


Something About Home and the Heart

by thecrownofclowns



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Smut, not mpreg, single dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-16 11:41:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2268411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecrownofclowns/pseuds/thecrownofclowns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takao never actually imagined having a family of his own.<br/>But he doesn't mind joining Midorima's incomplete one at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kazunari would never understand the reasoning behind making grocery store shelves so high. Kazunari may not have been tall, but he wasn’t short either. Which meant that when the item he needed was at the back of the tallest shelf, Kazunari had no hope of getting it.

"Dammit," Kazunari cursed as he stood on his tip toes and reached out as far as he could. He couldn’t even feel the can of sauce so he put one foot onto the lowest shelf and hoisted himself up. He reached out again, now able to touch the can, but not get a firm hold onto it. If he just stretched out a little more…

"Excuse me," a deep voice spoke behind him. Kazunari immediately jumped down and turned around, prepared to explain why he’d been climbing on the shelves like some kind of monkey. His explanation died in his throat as he looked up into dark green eyes. The guy who’d spoken to him was tall with shaggy yet well taken care of hair and thick rimmed glasses. "Do you need help?’

Kazunari opened his mouth and then closed it because yes, he did in fact need help, but he also didn’t really want to seem so pathetic in front of the guy. The incredibly handsome guy. Kazunari was pretty sure he’d never met a girl with lashes as long as this guy’s.

"Thanks," Kazunari said lamely, stepping out of the way so the guy could reach up and grab the can, with no problem at all because of his height. He turned back to Kazunari and handed him the can. Kazunari took it and smiled appreciatively. "Damn genetics never really wanted me to be able to shop at the grocery store."

Lame. Lame. That was so totally fucking lame. And this guy was totally looking at him like he was dumb. Then those deep green eyes slid to the can label.

"What do you put that in?" he asked, deep voice coming out barely above a whisper. Kazunari looked at the can of sauce in his hands.

"I add it into my curry," Kazunari answered, happy that he wasn’t making himself sound like a fucking idiot. Kazunari noticed an older woman standing beside a shopping cart with a little girl in it at the end of the aisle. The little girl was chatting, her high voice carrying down the aisle to Kazunari.

"Does it add a lot of flavor?" the man asked him. Kazunari nodded.

"Yeah, it adds a citrus flavor to it, but you have to add the right amount." The guy seemed interested and Kazunari thought this was a good opportunity to do some investigating. "Are you cooking for one or two people?" Those green eyes looked at him questioningly and Kazunari guessed that maybe the question wasn’t as subtle as he thought. Then he looked away.

"Two," the tall, handsome man answered. Kazunari stopped himself from sighing. Damn, he was taken.

"Well your wife will appreciate the extra taste." The guy continued to look away, his eyes scanning the shelf just to avoid looking at Kazunari.

"I’m not married," he whispered. Kazunari raised an eyebrow because the guy had a certain tone to his voice. Like he was assuring Kazunari.

"Girlfriend?" Kazunari couldn’t stop himself from asking. The guy looked over at him, not bothered that Kazunari was prodding. This had turned into a very interesting trip to the grocery store.

The guy opened his mouth, either to raise Kazunari’s hopes or crush them, when a high pitched voice echoed down the aisle.

"Daddy! I’m hungry," the little girl in the cart at the end of the aisle shouted. The guy turned back to the girl and Kazunari’s mouth opened.  _Oh_.

"I’m coming, Chiemi." He glanced at Kazunari with an almost embarrassed expression before he turned and walked towards the little girl, who was obviously his daughter. Kazunari frowned.

"Thanks," he called out to the man’s back. To his dismay, he got no reaction at all. Kazunari couldn’t have explained the aching fire that burned in his chest in that moment.

-

The guy was young. Kazunari himself was only twenty-three and he looked rather good for his age. That guy had to be around his age because, though his face and expressions were rather mature, there was something so naive about him. Maybe it was the “being a dad” bit, but he just didn’t seem mature in the least. Which had to mean that he’d had his daughter at a very young age, around the time when Kazunari was experimenting with boys to confirm the urges he’d already suspected he had.

Long after Kazunari had gotten home and laid down for bed, he just couldn’t get those dark green eyes and impossibly long lashes out of his head.

-

Kazunari ran into Mr. Eyelashes a few weeks later while he was walking his two German Shepards in the park. His dogs, rowdy and strong and wild, were chasing and playing with one another while Kazunari was dragged behind them. Aomine, the darker one, was jumping on the other one, the red Kagami, and Kazunari was yelling at them to calm down when a small girl ran out in front of them on the trail. Kazunari pulled on Aomine and Kagami’s leashes just before the dogs trampled the little girl. She merely squealed in delight.

"Mr. do your dogs bite?" she asked, her words missing syllables and consonant sounds as children’s speech often does. Kazunari smiled down at her.

"Kagami might lick you to death but other than that they’re harmless." She smiled and squealed again, this time coming close enough to get a massive lick from Kagami. She reached out and threw her tiny arms around Aomine’s neck and he responded by trying to shake her loose. Kazunari smiled.

Just then Kazunari heard someone running towards them and he looked up. At first he didn’t recognize the stranger because of the thick-rimmed, black glasses he was wearing, but as soon as the glare from the light allowed Kazunari to see those green eyes, he couldn’t stop himself from drawing in a breath.

"Daddy, look dogs."

"Chiemi," he said as he knelt down and swooped the little girl into his arms, "you know you aren’t allowed to run off like that. You scared Daddy, very badly."

"Sorry," the little girl whispered, his voice quivering as if she were about to cry. The man stood up, the little girl in his arms, and finally looked at Kazunari, whose mouth was parted like a fish. The man’s eyes widened as soon as he saw Kazunari’s face and Kazunari felt his face heat up just from that reaction.

"You’re the guy from the store," the stranger said. Kazunari’s eyebrows went up.

"You remember me?" Kazunari asked. The man looked startled like he’d just admitted something he shouldn’t. Then he looked away, his cheeks a little red. Kazunari smirked. Maybe he was as memorable to this man as he’d been to Kazunari. None of them said anything for a little while, both just trying to think through the slightly awkward atmosphere. Aomine barked.

"Daddy, can I play with the dogs?" the little girl, Chiemi, asked. The man turned to look at her and then at the dogs, seeming worried. They were almost twice her size and there were two of them. He was right to be worried.

"They won’t hurt her," Kazunari said. "They’re really lovable and good with kids. They’re both attention hogs so they’ll love it." The man eyed the two Sherpards one more time before he nodded slowly. Chiemi clapped her hands and the man set her down. Kazunari reached down and unhooked Kagami from his leash. He immediately went over and sniffed Chiemi, before giving her a little kiss with his nose. "Good boy," Kazunari said. Next he unhooked Aomine, who took off into the grassy area before Kazunari was even done. Kagami immediately took off after him with Chiemi right behind them. They didn’t wander off very far and the man turned so he could keep an eye on them.

Kazunari took the time to scrutinize the guy further. He was tall and lean, as Kazunari initially noticed, but he also had very defined arms, most likely from carrying his daughter, as well as wide set shoulders. Kazunari noticed that his clothes were nicely pressed and he had a gold plated watch on his left hand. Kazunari let his eyes sink further and checked out the guy’s ass, which was small but didn’t lack anything to grab ahold of.

"Thanks for the tip," the guy said, his voice deep and shy.

"What?" Kazunari asked, a little too loud in fear of being caught checking the guy out. The guy glanced at him for a millisecond before he looked away.

"For the tip of adding that sauce to the curry. It was really good." Kazunari smiled and nodded. Being reminded of what he’d suggested made him think about something else from their first encounter.

"You’d said you were only cooking for two and that you weren’t married, so is it just you and Chiemi?" The man looked at him, as if judging whether he should tell Kazunari or not. Kazunari couldn’t blame him. They were complete strangers after all, but something about the effort they both seemed to be putting into this conversation made it seem as though neither of them  _wanted_  to be strangers.

"Yeah, Chiemi’s mother left right after she was born. She wasn’t ready to raise a kid and wanted to put Chiemi up for adoption." The guy pulled the corner of his mouth between his teeth, nervous if he should add more information. "But once I saw her I couldn’t let her be given up. She was my daughter and I wasn’t going to abandon her."

"How old were you?" Kazunari said. He realized how nosy he sounded and added, "If you don’t mind me asking." The guy shrugged.

"That’s the question everyone wants to know but never has the courage to ask. I mean they get worried when they see a twenty four year old with a child." So he was twenty four, only a year older than Kazunari. "I was eighteen when I had her."

"Well I think she’s pretty cute," Kazunari added. The man’s mouth tilted up on one side.

"Thanks," he whispered. The guy waited a second before he turned to Kazunari fully and extended his hand. "I’m Midorima Shintarou." Kazunari took his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Midorima. I’m Takao, Takao Kazunari." The man with the gorgeously long lashes known as Midorima nodded, a faint smile on his lips. Kazunari just stared at him. He was so incredibly handsome and his awkward smiles were enough to get Kazunari’s heart racing.

Chiemi’s laugh echoed all the way to them and Kazunari jumped, dropping Midorima’s hand which he was mortified to realize he’d still been holding. While he was staring. Kazunari turned away, very embarrassed.

Until he realized that Midorima hadn’t pulled his hand back nor had he stopped Kazunari from staring.

"Midorima?" Kazunari asked as he turned to Midorima, who was still looking at him. Midorima gave a low hum of affirmation in his throat. "This is gonna sound crazy because you have a kid, but would you like to go out with me sometime?" Midorima’s eyes went wide and he just continued staring at Kazunari, whose face was red with embarrassment but stern so that Midorima would know he was serious.

"I’m not interested in men," Midorima finally said. Kazunari gave a deep exhale. He should have foreseen this.

"Of course you’re not," Kazunari said, with a laugh that was only half forced. "You have a daughter which clearly shows you’re interested in woman. Sorry for asking." Midorima shook his head.

"I’m not interested in men, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go out with you."

"What?" Kazunari asked, slightly confused.

"I haven’t seen anyone since Chiemi was born and I feel like all my romantic senses are so dull that it probably doesn’t even matter at this point." Midorima rubbed at his face. "I just mean that I find you particularly captivating so despite having no prior interest in men, I would very much like to go out with you. And—"

Midorima was still rambling, his face red, but Kazunari had stopped listening after Midorima had called him captivating. He’d been called plenty of things, in places ranging from the auditorium at his high school graduation to dirty gay bars. People called him hot, sexy, wild, lots of things. But he’d never been called captivating before and Kazunari felt like it did more for him than being called any of those other things.

"—I’d have to see if my mom could watch Chiemi for me," Midorima said, still rambling. Kazunari smiled.

"You’re really cute," Kazunari said. Midorima stopped talking and his face was bright red. Kazunari reached into his wallet and pulled out one of the spare business cards he always carried. He handed it out to Midorima. "Just call me." Midorima nodded, glanced at the card, and slipped it into his pocket.

Kazunari felt like this was the perfect moment for his exit, it left lots of anticipation and drama for their next meeting, so he called Aomine and Kagami over. The two dogs looked at him before they took off running towards him at full speed. Kazunari smiled and started jogging away, but he turned back to Midorima one last time.

"I can’t wait to see you again," Kazunari called out before he took off, his dogs hot on his heels, and Midorima’s eyes boring into his back.


	2. Chapter 2

Tall and Handsome called Kazunari a week later. He’d been on his way to the printers, a massive stack of magazine articles in his arms, when his loud, obnoxious iPhone ringer sounded. All heads in the office turned to look at him and Kazunari knew he’d get a scolding for having his phone on if his boss found out. So he quickly fit the pile into the crook of his elbow, said a silent prayer, and reached into his pocket.

"Hello?" he asked, with a tired voice.

"Yes, hello Takao, this is Midorima." Kazunari felt his shoulders stiffen and he straightened up, even though Midorima couldn’t see him. "Do you have time to talk?"

"Yeah," Kazunari said. "Just give me five minutes. I’m really happy you called, so hang on." Kazunari rushed the rest of the way to the printers with his phone clutched tightly in his hand. He almost put it between his ear and shoulder, but he didn’t want Midorima to hear his labored breaths as he ran down two flights of stairs to the printing department. Once he’d handed off the articles, he politely excused himself and went outside to the smoking area.

"Hey, sorry about that. I had to do something for work." Kazunari bit his lip because how rude of him was it to make Midorima stay on the line while he ran all over his office.

"It’s alright," Midorima said. "I hope it’s okay for us to speak now." Kazunari nodded his head frantically.

"Yeah, it’s all good. So what did you want to talk about?" He heard slight rustling on the other side of the phone and then he heard a door close.

"I was wondering if you were free this weekend," Midorima said after a few seconds. Kazunari sucked in a deep breath because Midorima’s voice, which was even deeper over the phone, made the question far more seductive than it was. Midorima just had that kind of voice.

"Yeah, I’m free all-" Kazunari cut himself off because saying that he would be free all weekend sounded really desperate and like he was wanting it too much. "I’m free," Kazunari repeated.

"Well I was thinking that if you would like to-" Midorima stopped talking and Kazunari felt his heart stop beating in anticipation of just hearing Midorima say the words. "Would you maybe want to get dinner together this Saturday? Chiemi is gonna stay at my mother’s and I don’t have to work. So if you’re free, then-" He left the ending open and Kazunari wondered if he was maybe suggesting they fool around on the first date. As much as Kazunari would love to have his hands on Midorima as soon as possible, he didn’t know if he had the heart to touch a curious straight man so early.

"Yes, that sounds wonderful. I would love to go to dinner on Saturday." Kazunari ran a hand through his hair. He wanted Saturday to be here now.  Nothing about these urgent feelings made sense to Kazunari, but he couldn’t deny that the idea of sitting across a table from Midorima sounded like the only thing in the world that Kazunari wanted to do.

"Takao, are you still on the line?"

"Yeah, I’m listening." Crap, he totally had dazed off thinking about Midorima with this beautiful halo of light around his head while they shared wine and a fancy dinner. "So Saturday then?"

"I will pick you up at 8," Midorima said and Kazunari liked that Midorima didn’t ask him for a time. It showed that he was an affirmative plan maker. "I look forward to seeing you then."

"Yeah, me too," Kazunari said before a simple goodbye from them both ended the call. No sooner did the home screen return on Kazunari’s phone that he was jumping up and down in pure excitement. He finally found himself out of breath and he leaned against the wall.

"A date," Kazunari said into the hand covering his stupidly open mouth. He was going on an actual date with an incredibly alluring and gorgeous guy. Midorima seemed awkward and he was certainly new to homosexual endeavors, but those things just made him so charming to Kazunari. And sure Kazunari didn’t know very much about Midorima, but that’s why Saturday was so important for him. It was a chance for him to learn everything he could about Midorima.

This was the first time in a long time that Kazunari was genuinely interested in something and he wasn’t going to let Midorima out of his life until he understood why. He actually kinda hoped it would take him forever to figure it out.

-

"Tetsuya, please, I need your help." Kazunari was so desperate that he was resorting to asking his good friend, Kuroko, to help him pick out an outfit. He still had time—okay, more like two hours—until Midorima came to pick him up, but he wanted to be absolutely sure about his outfit before then.

"Kazunari, how am I going to help? I have no fashion sense at all and my style looks so different from yours."

"Yes but you can at least come over and tell me what looks good."

"No I can’t. Seijuro is coming over in like 15 minutes and, as much as I love your friendship, I would much rather let him fuck me then watch you try on clothes."

"Tetsuya, you selfish prick. I’m calling Ryouta."

"He would have been a better person to begin with," Tetsuya said over the phone. "But unfortunately he and Yukio are in Bali for a photoshoot." Kazunari wanted to pull his hair out. While were all of his friends unavailable during the most crucial point in his life?

"Fine, but I am going to be sending you photos of all my outfits for criticisms." Kazunari could tell Tetsuya was rolling his eyes on the other end. But that didn’t stop Kazunari from keeping his word. He tried on nearly twenty outfits and sent twenty accompanying selfies to Tetsuya. Just as he was about to send the twenty-first, he got an incredibly rude text from Tetsuya’s phone telling him to stop. It didn’t surprise him to see the attached photo of a half-naked Seijuro giving him the finger.

"You’re all bastards," Kazunari said as he threw his phone onto his bed. He must have gone through another five outfits before settling on one he didn’t loathe. The shirt had a low neckline that showed off his killer collarbones, but it did nothing for his arms. The pants framed his legs excellently but left his ass looking flat. But overall, he thought the color palette and cut were flattering to both his figure and his personality.

Kazunari was brushing his teeth for the second time when the doorbell finally rang. He took a deep breath and went to open the door. Midorima was standing with his back to the door and he turned around when he heard the door open. Kazunari thought he needed to get his eyes checked because the world seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Midorima was wearing his nice watch and his thick glasses, but this time he was dressed in an elegant cream button down and slacks that hung loosely on his waist. He looked so classy and relaxed at the same time. Kazunari was admiring the way the shirt hugged Midorima in all the right places when he noticed something that should have hit him a lot sooner.

Midorima was holding a large bouquet of red roses.

Midorima caught him staring at the flowers and he looked away. “I wasn’t really sure how this sort of thing goes between two men, so I just went with the methods I knew to court a woman.” Kazunari thought there were too many cute things in that sentence. Like the way Midorima said “court” instead of “date” or “woo”.

"I think it was a very good idea," Kazunari as he took the roses and  looked at them. Midorima nodded his head slowly and Kazunari ducked back inside to lay the flowers on the counter. He returned and shut the door behind him. "Shall we go?" Midorima nodded and Kazunari began walking.

Oddly enough, Midorima was quick to put his hand on Kazunari’s lower back.

-

"So what do you do?" Kazunari asked. They’d made it all the way to the restaurant, a classy place Kazunari would never have come to on his own, in utter silence. They’d sat down and Midorima ordered a foreign wine that Kazunari saw costed close to 200 dollars. He was all for going Dutch and splitting the bill, but Kazunari was a magazine editor. He didn’t make much money.

"I’m a paralegal," Midorima told him before taking a sip of the wine. Kazunari watched the way Midorima’s lip flattened against the glass rim with barely restrained desire. If Midorima weren’t a straight single dad, Kazunari would definitely be expecting sex after this. But he didn’t want to scare Midorima off so early. Kazunari hadn’t had enough time to stare at him.

"It must have been hard to go to school with Chiemi." Midorima put his glass down and purposefully looked across the room, away from Kazunari’s gaze.

"I never graduated high school," Midorima admitted in a low voice.

"Oh," Kazunari said. It didn’t matter to him that Midorima never graduated, but it definitely seemed to bother Midorima.

"Do you find me uneducated?" Midorima asked, misinterpreting Kazunari’s reaction.

"Not at all," Kazunari said honestly. "I graduated and went to college and I have very little to show for it. I’m in no way better or more educated than you, so don’t worry." Midorima stared at him for a long time. "But don’t you have to go to school to be a paralegal?" Kazunari asked once Midorima’s stare had become too much for him.

"The firm I work for belongs to some family friends so they paid for me to take online courses for certification. It was the easiest way with Chiemi." Kazunari nodded and smiled.

"You want to know something?" Kazunari asked with a smirk. Midorima raised an inquisitive eyebrow and urged Kazunari to continue. "One of the things I like about you is how selfless you are when it comes to Chiemi." Kazunari didn’t miss the deep blush that rose to Midorima’s cheeks. Kazunari was aware that he hadn’t known Midorima long enough to really like many things about him, but he was telling the truth about that one.

"Thanks," Midorima said before taking a sip of wine to hide the redness in his face. Kazunari smiled pretty wide because maybe that blush was something he could add to the list of things he did like about Midorima.

-

"Let’s see," Kazunari said as he thought about the answer to the question Midorima had asked him. "I guess it was in high school. I used to play basketball and one day I noticed that I was the only one checking out other men in the locker room. It wasn’t hard to piece together that I was gay after that."

"Sorry for such an awkward question," Midorima said as he stared down at the empty plate in front of him. Kazunari shook his head.

"You’re my first straight guy so I understand that this must be pretty odd to you. Feel free to ask me about anything." Kazunari, despite the judgement from the part of him that was still completely sober, winked. Midorima blushed again and looked away, before glancing back at Kazunari from underneath his long eyelashes.

Kazunari just stared at Midorima, hoping that maybe his face left no question. He really liked Midorima, whom he’d known for a total of about 4 hours. Just something about Midorima’s shyness and purity made Kazunari go weak. Over the course of their dinner, Kazunari had learned just exactly what kind of person Midorima was. He was Kazunari’s soulmate.

"Takao," Midorima whispered. Kazunari, startled out of his daze, cleared his throat.

"Yeah?"

"I hope you won’t take this as rude—" Kazunari’s eyes went wide, because while Midorima may appear as stand-offish and cold because of his quiet and shy demeanor, Kazunari didn’t think of him as rude. "—but would you mind if I called you Kazunari?"

Were angels singing? Kazunari was pretty sure angels were actually singing. The fact that Midorima wanted to begin calling him by his first name so early in their relationship meant that he planned on there  _actually_   _being_  a relationship.

"Only if I can call you Shintarou," Kazunari said with a blush of his own.

"I’d like that," Midorima—no, Shintarou— said. He reached back and rubbed his neck and Kazunari couldn’t stop himself. He reached his hand out and laid it face up on the table. Shintarou looked at it for a millisecond before he reached out and took Kazunari’s hand.

-

"I had an really amazing time tonight," Kazunari said. He was having to look up at Midorima because of their height difference and he noticed that the lights on his porch were flickering.

"I would like to see you again," Shintarou said. Kazunari nodded. His whole body was freezing from the cold night air except for his hand, which was wrapped tightly around Shintarou’s. He’d held Kazunari’s hand all the way home. "Soon," Shintarou added.

Shintarou fidgeted and he completely blocked Kazunari’s view of the flickering lights. Kazunari looked into those emerald eyes and licked his lips. His mouth was incredibly dry. Must have been from the wine. Shintarou fidgeted again and this time Kazunari noticed that he wasn’t just fidgeting. He was moving closer.

If Kazunari just stayed still, his lips would have eventually met Shintarou’s. He could have had his first taste of Shintarou. Kazunari could maybe have even gotten Shintarou into his house, into his bed. But as Shintarou leaned over, Kazunari was able to see the flickering lights again and it snapped him out of his head.

He pushed gently on Shintarou’s chest. Shintarou stopped, only a few inches from Kazunari, before he straightened out. Kazunari blushed and bit on his lip. Shintarou looked hurt that Kazunari stopped him.

"I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just assumed—"

"Believe me, I want to kiss you." Shintarou raised an eyebrow and Kazunari took a deep breath. "But Shintarou until we met, you were as straight as a board. You aren’t even sure if you’ll enjoy kissing a man and I’d rather not have you find out just yet. So I think we should maybe move slow with the physical stuff. We held hands today and I will give you a goodnight hug, but let’s wait for the rest. Let’s wait until you’re absolutely sure that you can do this."

"I wouldn’t have—" Kazunari raised a hand and cut Shintarou off.

"You’ll thank me later. If you decide that you want to move forward to the next steps, then you’ll find that the wait was worth it." Kazunari smiled awkwardly. "So, thank you for the amazing time Shintarou. I can’t wait until we go out again so call me soon, okay?"

Kazunari leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Shintarou’s neck before pulling him close. Shintarou wrapped his arms around Kazunari’s back and held him tightly. Kazunari felt Shintarou’s chin run across his scalp and it sent shivers down his spine. Kazunari finally stepped back before he changed his mind about all this.

"Goodnight," he said before he unlocked his door and opened it. He stepped inside the house and turned back just in time to hear Shintarou wish him a good night. Then he shut the door and leaned against the wall of the mud room. He waited until he heard Shintarou walk away to cover his blushing face with his hands.

That had to break some universal record for best first date ever.


	3. Chapter 3

That amazing first date led to an amazing second date. Then an amazing third date which ultimately turned into twelve absolutely amazing dates. Kazunari couldn’t have said which date was his favorite. He absolutely loved them all. There was not a single time that they met where Kazunari wasn’t overwhelmingly happy.

There was the date at the movie theatre. Apparently Shintarou likes horror movies but he isn’t able to watch them around Chiemi, so he’d suggested the movie to Kazunari. Kazunari wasn’t in love with the genre but he could tell that Shintarou really wanted to see the movie. To be honest, he couldn’t tell anyone what the movie was about because he fell asleep almost ten minutes into it. He had woken up just as the credits were finishing and every one had left the theatre to Shintarou holding his hand and Kazunari’s head on his shoulder. Kazunari had tried to apologize but Shintarou merely said that having Kazunari fall asleep on his shoulder only made the movie more enjoyable.

A few dates after that one, they went to some little cafe for coffee and Kazunari talked about all the articles he’d edited coming out in the magazine that month. Shintarou had admitted to reading a few of the magazine’s earlier articles purely because Kazunari had had a hand in printing them. Kazunari merely smiled at that and told Shintarou that he absolutely better read the future articles. He’d also learned on that date that Shintarou liked three packs of sugar in his dark roast, with just a teaspoon of milk.

The first time Shintarou had come over to Kazunari’s house was on their seventh date. Kazunari had suggested cooking for Shintarou and Shintarou had agreed on the grounds of finally having someone to cook for him. Kazunari nearly cried from laughing so hard when Aomine and Kagami had attacked Shintarou when he’d bent over to pet them. Kazunari had to rescue him and he couldn’t do it with a straight face. Shintarou had liked his cooking and Kazunari felt very flattered. They’d ended up falling asleep on the couch together during a movie. Kazunari had to admit he was terrible at watching movies since all of them seemed to put him to sleep, but he was perfectly okay waking up in the early morning with Shintarou’s head on his chest, those long eyelashes casting nice shadows across his cheeks. That was the first night they’d spent together and there was no sex involved, just emotional intimacy and comfort.

One of the more recent dates took them to the park where Kazunari had asked Shintarou out. Kazunari had laid out a blanket and he and Shintarou had both sat down. They’d eaten the food Kazunari prepared and eventually laid down side by side. Kazunari had watched absolutely enamored as Shintarou had gone through his wallet, showing Kazunari all twenty-four pictures of Chiemi he carried with him everyday. There were several as her of a baby and many from various birthdays, holidays, and outings. The best part about that date for Kazunari was seeing the adoring smile Shintarou had on his face while he talked about the photos and the stories behind them. It occurred to Kazunari that he wasn’t just falling in love with Shintarou, the person, but also with Shintarou, the father. After that it occurred to him that he really was falling in love and judging by the way Shintarou held him tight during their goodbye hugs, maybe Shintarou was feeling that too.

But it was the thirteenth date, nearly three months after the amazing first date, that they finally took the next step in their relationship. They’d just left the restaurant where they’d had dinner, their hands held tightly, when Kazunari almost fell on his ass. He’d raised his hands in an attempt to hail a cab, waving them frantically. After failing miserably, he’d turned around to groan about his failure when his feet got tangled and he nearly fell over. In true movie cliche fashion, Shintarou was there to catch him before he could fall, ungraciously, onto his face.

Kazunari opened his mouth to apologize and thank Shintarou when warm hands slid from his arms, where they’d caught him, to his cheeks, where they held him steady as Shintarou pressed their lips together. Kazunari thought maybe he had fallen down and was actually unconscious because his life was neither a romance nor a shoujo manga. But that first kiss was like a fairytale.

Soft was the first word Kazunari thought of during the pressing together of closed lips that was their first kiss. Shintarou’s lips were soft and his top lip was slightly fuller than his bottom which made Kazunari reflexively want to open his mouth in accommodation. Behind soft, Kazunari thought of the word warm. The warmth of Shintarou’s mouth was just a few millimeters behind a thin wall of flesh and teeth. Warmth was also spreading throughout Kazunari from his chest, where it had began, to his cheeks, where it was visible in a scarlet tint.

Shintarou finally moved back, leaving a frigid feeling against Kazunari’s lips. He still held Kazunari’s face between his hands and he’d only moved back enough so that he could look down into Kazunari’s eyes. “I couldn’t wait anymore,” he whispered, his words carrying on his breath to warm Kazunari even more.

Kazunari opened his mouth to say something, but what could he say? He’d told Shintarou that they’d wait only until Shintarou knew he was ready for their relationship to become physical. Clearly they’d waited and Shintarou felt he was ready. Plus he had no true objections to the kiss. It was wonderful and Kazunari had wanted to do it since before they’d even started dating.

Kazunari reached out and hugged himself to Shintarou’s chest, trying to bury his face in Shintarou’s shirt. If Shintarou was ready to kiss, was he ready to do more? The thought of becoming physically connected with Shintarou, of being able to learn his body, made Kazunari’s throat go dry.

Shintarou hugged him back and finally Kazunari looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow. “Well Shin-chan? Are you gonna kiss me again?” Midorima’s lips tilted up just slightly in the corner before he leaned down to kiss Kazunari again, though this time his plump upper lip successfully forced Kazunari’s mouth open.

Shintarou’s mouth was warm, just like Kazunari had imagined it to be. It was a little dry from how nervous Shintarou and been, but it was also sweet. It tasted like three packets of sugar in a dark roast with a teaspoon of milk.

Kazunari did everything he could to make that kiss the best kiss Shintarou had ever received in his life. He ran his tongue over every inch of Shintarou’s mouth, the roof of his mouth and his teeth, Shintarou’s tongue and the sensitive part of his lips. He wanted Shintarou to think about the way his mouth felt as he was laying down for bed tonight, and he wanted Shintarou to think about Kazunari’s tongue as he was brushing his teeth the next morning.

Kazunari pulled back slightly. Shintarou’s lips were red and glistened with saliva and Kazunari imagined he looked the same. He leaned forward to kiss the corner of Shintarou’s mouth before giving him a quick peck on the lips. He left his lips against Shintarou’s as he whispered the only word he could actually articulate in that second. “Wow.”

Once they both put a safe distance between their mouths, Shintarou pulled Kazunari to his chest. He placed one hand on the back of Kazunari’s head and put the other around his waist. Kazunari felt like the heroin in some chick-flick being embraced like that, but as Shintarou had only ever been with women, Kazunari decided to give him a free pass.

"If I want to go further, will you stop me?" Shintarou asked into Kazunari’s scalp. Kazunari blushed, embarrassed but thankful that Shintarou wanted that too.

"How far do you want to go?" Kazunari asked, his eyes trained on the button on Shintarou’s collar. Shintarou pulled back and looked into Kazunari’s eyes. He took the hand on Kazunari’s head and moved it to cup Kazunari’s cheek.

"I want to touch you. That’s all." Kazunari snorted.

“ _Riiiiiiiight_ , that’s all.” Kazunari tried to make the atmosphere, which was full of desire and heat and passion, a little more light with his sarcasm. However, Shintarou just continued staring at him with those dark green eyes.

"Can we go to your place tonight?" He was being so frank and Kazunari saw that he wanted this. And since Kazunari wanted this too, he really had no objections.

"What about Chiemi?" Kazunari asked, wondering how the girl would fair if Shintarou didn’t go home tonight.

"I’d already told her that she’d be staying at Mom’s place." Kazunari gave Shintarou a blank look before realization set in. He reached out and pinched Shintarou’s nose between his thumb and forefinger. Shintarou pulled back, confused.

"Shin-chan, you asshole. You came here tonight with the intent to seduce me." Kazunari knew his face was so overwhelmingly red, the small smile on Shintarou’s face told him as much.

"I did," Shintarou admitted honestly. Kazunari made another grab at his nose though Shintarou dodged this attack easily enough. He grabbed Kazunari’s wrist. "So? Can I? Will you let me put my hands on you tonight?"

"Asking something like that so formally doesn’t really help make the mood, you know." Shintarou blushed and he opened his mouth to speak, as if he was going to rephrase what he said, before closing it. Kazunari was thankful because if Shintarou asked him that in a lewd way, Kazunari would probably get a boner right there on the sidewalk.

The very public sidewalk.

Kazunari blushed again and stepped out of Shintarou’s embrace. Shintarou raised an eyebrow and Kazunari turned away from him to hide his embarrassment. He reached behind himself and took Shintarou’s hand. “Whatever,” he said. “Let’s just get someplace more private.”

When he finally got a cab, they both got into it and Shintarou immediately told the man to bring them to Kazunari’s address. The cab driver looked at them, had seen the tenderness in their touches as they got in, and Kazunari almost opened the car door and tossed himself out when the cab driver winked at him in the rearview mirror.

Kazunari closed his eyes until they reached his house and he could no longer be publicly humiliated.

-

Kazunari shut the door behind them, effectively keeping Aomine and Kagami from coming into his bedroom and interfering. That would be absolutely mortifying and Kazunari wanted to make sure that this went right, perfect, like their first date and first kiss had been. The first time they fooled around had to be perfect too.

Shintarou was sitting on the edge of the bed closest to the door, staring at Kazunari. Kazunari noticed that he was fidgeting like he’d been on the first date when he’d leaned in to kiss Kazunari. It must be what Shintarou did when he was nervous.

Kazunari finally walked over to the bed and sat down beside Shintarou, who turned towards him slightly. Kazunari wasn’t sure which one of them  moved first but soon they were kissing, quite slowly in fact. They’d already decided that they had all night so there was no need to rush towards what they both knew was going to happen.

Shintarou slid one hand up Kazunari’s shoulder and Kazunari bushed his fingers along the short hairs at the base of Shintarou’s neck. Soon hands were touching Kazunari’s neck and back and thighs. He returned all those amazing, heated touches with his own to Shintarou’s chest and through his hair. Soon enough, Kazunari was on his back, staring up at a flushed Shintarou. A ragged sound kept echoing through the room and it took Kazunari a few seconds to realize that he was making those sounds.

"I want to touch you where it will feel good. Where do you like to be touched?" That was a hard question to answer since he’d really like for Shintarou to touch his cock. But the fact that Shintarou asked that question made Kazunari think that Shintarou wanted to touch him in other places before they moved below the belt.

Kazunari grabbed Shintarou’s left hand and slipped it under the hem of his shirt. Shintarou looked at where his hand disappeared under Kazunari’s shirt before he looked up and met Kazunari’s eyes. He pushed his hand up a little further and Kazunari felt his body react. Shintarou’s hands were warm and soft in a way that only comes from hard work. The further north Shintarou’s hands went, the more blood went south.

"Shintarou," Kazunari gasped when Shintarou circled the skin around Kazunari’s nipple with his thumb. Kazunari was panting and very hard and Shintarou’s hands felt so good. They were trembling and all of his touches were light which made Kazunari’s body go wild.

Shintarou rubbed Kazunari’s nipple before he gave it a light squeeze. Kazunari’s eyes slammed close and he tilted his head back to release a low moan. Shintarou’s name was in there somewhere, but when he assaulted both of Kazunari’s nipples, the words stopped being words and became just sounds of pleasure.

"Shintarou, I’m so hard," Kazunari said around his labored breaths. "I want you to—" Shintarou merely nodded and slipped his hands out from Kazunari’s shirt. His fingers shook slightly as he undid Kazunari’s pants and slid them down along with his underwear. Kazunari hid his face with his hands to hide his embarrassment. He was so fucking hard and already leaking out and for Shintarou, who’d never touched a dick beside his own, this was going to be messy and more dirty than Kazunari wanted it to be.

Kazunari peaked between his fingers to see Shintarou looking at him. He was smiling slightly. “Kazunari?”

"Mhmm?"

"Can I do them together?" Kazunari swallowed and tried to breathe properly. Then he moved his hands and shook his head. Shintarou grabbed one of Kazunari’s hands and brought it to his lips. He kissed the pads of his fingers and then his knuckles. Kazunari let out a little moan from just that, causing Shintarou to smirk.

Kazunari brushed Shintarou’s hair off of his sweaty forehead and cupped Shintarou’s head. Meanwhile Shintarou reached down and undid his own pants. He didn’t bother taking them off like he did with Kazunari’s. He merely reached inside his briefs and pulled out his own cock. Kazunari had always enjoyed dicks. He enjoyed touching them both with his hands and mouth and Shintarou’s made him curl his toes in want. It was long and thick and Kazunari wanted to just ask Shintarou to forgo the simple stuff and put it inside of him.

Shintarou grabbed his own cock, maneuvered himself so that he was straddling Kazunari’s thighs, then grabbed onto Kazunari’s cock. Those soft fingers left gossamer touches on him at first and Kazunari tipped his head to the side to let out a whine. Shintarou touched the two heads together so that he could rub his thumb over them, dipping it into Kazunari’s slit. Kazunari was sure he must have looked wrecked because his face was so hot and his mouth was just hanging open as he gasped and whimpered in pleasure.

Shintarou finally grabbed both both cocks firmly as he began to jerk them off. Kazunari pushed his free hand through his own hair and grabbed onto the locks painfully. He stole a glance at Shintarou and found that he was watching Kazunari with a mix of fascination and focus, like he thought Kazunari would disappear if he took his eyes away.

Shintarou changed his hand position so that he was stroking more slowly with his fingers pointing downwards and the sudden change made Kazunari’s back arch. It was such good technique that Kazunari knew Shintarou had developed it from lots of masturbation. Shintarou’s hand moved even lower, cupping their balls and rubbing them together. When he did this, Shintarou grunted and let out a breathy moan. It was the first sound he made.

Shintarou returned to his original method of stroking, his pace quickening. Kazunari knew from the sweet burn that he’d be coming soon and, judging  from the way Shintarou was panting and sweating, so would he. So Kazunari gave Shintarou extra encouragement by moaning out Shintarou’s name as loudly as he could. Shintarou closed his eyes then and just started jerking erratically. It wasn’t long before lines of hot cum shot onto his hand and into the air. Kazunari toes curled into the mattress as he watched Shintarou grind himself into his orgasm, his mouth open but silent. Kazunari came seconds later with a sharp gasp and a “fuck.”

Kazunari wasn’t aware of anything for a few seconds. His eyes were closed and his heavy panting created a hypnotic rhythm to his ears. It was as if he was floating underwater after the tsunami that was his orgasm. Then suddenly one by one certain sensations came back to him.

He became aware of the sheets sticking to his ass and thighs from how hard he was sweating. He became aware of heavy panting other than his own, these breaths deeper and more ragged. He became aware of waves of cool air from the ceiling fan brushing against his skin that had been to hot before to even notice that the fan was on. And finally, just before the blissed out feeling from his orgasm faded, he became aware of Shintarou whispering his name in a very tender voice.

After he’d receded back into all of his senses, he looked at Shintarou who had returned slightly before he had. Shintarou was watching him intently and Kazunari saw that Shintarou was still holding his now flaccid cock.

"You should probably let go of that thing and wash your hands," Kazunari said, his voice hoarse from all the moaning. Shintarou looked down as if he jut noticed he was still holding Kazunari’s cock and then looked up at Kazunari’s face. There was something in his face that Kazunari hadn’t been able to identify.

"Can we—" Shintarou started before coughing to clear his dry throat "Can we do it again?" Kazunari’s eyebrows went up. They’d both just come incredibly hard and Shintarou was already so eager to go again, not five minutes later. That was certainly a good sign that Shintarou enjoyed doing these things with Kazunari.

"I’m not sure my body can send blood to my dick that fast," Kazunari said with a small laugh. "But it felt fucking great so I understand the desire." Shintarou was shaking his head.

"I want to see your face again," he whispered. Kazunari’s body went still. Oh shit, he’d been so overcome with pleasure he’d probably made some incredibly raunchy and embarrassing faces. He felt his face heat up.

"Don’t tell me I was making weird faces. It’s actually kind of been a while since I’ve done this so I’m sorry if I—"

"They weren’t weird," Shintarou said, cutting him off. Kazunari eyes narrowed in confusion. If his faces weren’t weird then what in the hell were they? "They were mesmerizing. I couldn’t stop looking at you."

Kazunari’s mouth dropped. First Shintarou had called him captivating and now mesmerizing. He felt an ache in his chest that made him feel light headed as he finally identified the emotion Shintarou had looked at him earlier with. It had been awe. “You’ve gotta stop saying stuff like that or I’m gonna fall for you really hard, you know.” Shintarou finally removed his hand from Kazunari’s cock so that he could grab Kazunari’s face and pull him up into a kiss.

"Go ahead and do it," Shintarou whispered when he pulled back, his lips resting against Kazunari’s. Kazunari reached up and placed his hands over Shintarou’s, curling his fingers over the other man’s. It was then that he noticed Shintarou still hadn’t washed his hands.

He pulled Shintarou’s hand back and frowned at the cold feeling on his cheek. He definitely had cum there. Shintarou quickly noticed and his face became so red, Kazunari worried he was having a heart attack. “It’s not a big deal,” Kazunari said with another small laugh. He turned and winked at Shintarou. “You wanted to go again, right? Maybe you could use this a motivation.”

Kazunari thought he heard Shintarou stop breathing.

-

Kazunari woke up in the middle of the night on his side. He couldn’t see Shintarou in the strips of moonlight coming through the blinds on his window but he heard the man’s quiet breathing. Kazunari looked over his shoulder and saw Shintarou laying on his back, his limbs going in all directions. Kazunari smiled at Shintarou’s cute sleeping face before grabbing the arm closest to him and maneuvering so that he was laying on top of it. He bent Shintarou’s arm at the elbow, entwined their fingers, and clutched the other man’s arm to his chest. Minutes later, he felt a warm chest collide against his back and an arm slip over his waist. Somehow he knew Shintarou was still sleeping and Kazunari felt himself smile at the fact that Shintarou had conformed to him in his sleep. That warmth and comfort quickly ushered Kazunari back into sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Kazunari’s life got instantly better as he and Shintarou continued to see each other. They met almost daily for lunch; Shintarou coming all the way from his firm across town to eat at the little deli down the street from Kazunari’s office. Kazunari had already introduced Shintarou to the office after Ryouta had saw him through the window one day.

"Kazunaricchi," Ryouta had said, "please introduce me to that handsome cutie who keeps coming to pick you up." Kazunari had immediately shook his head because Ryouta was such an obnoxious person that he would most likely scare Shintarou away. Thankfully Yukio, Ryouta’s long time not-really-secret-anymore-since-Ryouta-has-such-a-big-mouth boyfriend, knew how annoying his boyfriend could be and dragged Ryouta away while Kazunari actually introduced Shintarou to everyone.

With all the lunch dates came lots of adult sleepovers. Shintarou always stayed over for a night on the weekend, usually Fridays so that he could sleep in with Kazunari on Saturday. Shintarou had moved past the point of only cuddling Kazunari in his sleep. Now he always fell right asleep as soon as he fit his arms tight around Kazunari. Kazunari, however, stayed up a little bit longer in order to run his fingers through Shintarou’s hair and over his skin.

Their sexual acts only included their hands at first. Shintarou jerking them off on Friday nights and Kazunari doing it on Saturday afternoons. Shintarou kept insisting that they could move further, but something about the way he always grabbed onto Kazunari’s dick with trembling hands made Kazunari think that Shintarou could stand to do more waiting before they moved to actual intercourse.

Except Kazunari was the one who actually lost his patience when after a few months of dating, hands weren’t enough for him. Kazunari was the kind of homosexual man who thoroughly enjoyed sucking dick. Tetsuya had mentioned once that he believed that mentality was a power and control thing. Maybe he was right and Kazunari just liked being completely in control of his lover’s pleasure. Whatever the reason, Kazunari enjoyed performing oral sex and he’d wanted to do it on Shintarou for a long time.

Shintarou wasn’t opposed to the idea and he’d certainly given the correct encouragements when Kazunari had taken his cock into his mouth. He was kneeling on the floor and Shintarou was sitting on the edge of the bed, his bare toes gripping at the carpet. It was really wonderful, hearing Shintarou actually moan out as opposed to the usual grunts while he fisted his hand into Kazunari’s hair. His orgasm, which actually had him yelling out Kazunari’s name, sent shivers down Kazunari’s spine, his heightened sensations made Kazunari barely register the cum he was swallowing.

"I told you I could handle more," Shintarou said, panting, as he loosened the fingers grabbing Kazunari’s hair. He ran his hand over Kazunari’s scalp, stopping to cradle Kazunari’s cheek. Kazunari smirked and straightened up so that he could lean between Shintarou’s legs and throw his hands around Shintarou’s neck. He just barely stopped himself from kissing Shintarou.

"Well let’s stick with blow jobs for now. Once you can prove to me that you’re okay with returning the favor then we’ll talk about sex." Shintarou smirked before he lowered both his hands to Kazunari’s waist.

"Who says I’m not okay with returning the favor?" he asked, his voice serious but his eyes playful. Kazunari raised an eyebrow.

"Don’t enter into challenges you can’t fulfill." Shintarou leaned forward and kissed Kazunari deeply causing Kazunari to still. Shintarou should have at least let him brush his teeth first. Kazunari pushed Shintarou back though he left his hands against Shintarou’s chest. Shintarou reached up and laced their fingers together.

"I really don’t mind moving further," Shintarou said with complete honesty. "I want to." Kazunari smiled because Shintarou was a really great guy. Chiemi was lucky to have the best man on the planet as her father. And Kazunari was lucky too.

"Let’s get you tucked back into your pants before you start trying to have  pillow talk with me," Kazunari said with a laugh. Shintarou blushed almost as if he just realized that his soft cock was still exposed. Kazunari laughed even harder as he reached down and put said cock back into Shintarou’s pants. Then Kazunari pushed Shintarou onto his back on the bed and laid down beside him.

Kazunari rolled onto his side and wrapped both his hands around one of Shintarou’s. Kazunari couldn’t help smiling at the intense gaze Shintarou’s eyes always held. It was as if he was trying to stop all of time and space when he looked at Kazunari like that and, dammit, if Kazunari wouldn’t be fine with that.

"Kazunari," Shintarou whispered, rolling slightly on his side to face Kazunari. Kazunari nodded and hummed. "When we finally do have sex with each other, can I make a request?"

"Sure. What is it?" Shintarou shook his head.

"I’ll tell you when we get there. If you’re going to insist that we wait, then I’m going to keep my desires a secret. That way we both have something to look forward to." Kazunari smirked and leaned forward to press his lips to just under Shintarou’s chin.

"Believe me, I’m looking forward to it plenty." Shintarou smirked. Kazunari was just about to lean forward and kiss him when Shintarou’s expression turned slightly sour. Kazunari’s face scrunched up in confusion. "What’s wrong?"

"I really like you," Shintarou whispered. Kazunari took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But I shouldn’t. I haven’t known you all that long and I shouldn’t rush into relationships so easily. For my daughter’s sake, I should be thorough and in depth about my relationships. I’m an adult now; I can’t mess up like before."

Just when it seemed completely inconceivable that Shintarou could get anymore flawless, he goes and says the most painfully sweet things. Kazunari couldn’t stop himself from smiling really big. He reached out and pulled playfully at Shintarou’s cheeks. It didn’t seem to cheer up Shintarou up all that much.

"I’d like to meet her," Kazunari said. Shintarou immediately sat up and looked away from Kazunari, with a deep frown on his face. Kazunari sat up too, turning to face Shintarou completely. "Shintarou, I would never hurt her or you. I knew you were a father before I ever asked you out, so I’ve always assumed that the ultimate step for us would be for you to properly introduce me to your daughter."

"I would love to," Shintarou whispered. Kazunari smirked. "But it isn’t that easy, Kazunari. I can’t just make decisions based on what I want. I have to put her first and think about her, always. I can’t introduce people into her life …when there is a chance that they’re going to walk away. She already lost her mother."

"I’m insulted, Shintarou." Shintarou turned to Kazunari with an embarrassed look on his face. Kazunari’s fond smile, however, quickly made Shintarou turn red. "As absolutely crazy as I’m sure this is going to sound, I don’t really want to walk away at all." 

"Those are pretty words," Shintarou whispered.

"They’re not words. They’re my promise of commitment, you nerd. I’m not really interested in breaking my own heart. I asked you out because I was hoping we could be happy together. It’s what I want. For me, for you, even for Chiemi."

"Careful, Kazunari, you’re starting to sound like a weirdo." Kazunari narrowed his eyes and pulled at Shintarou’s cheeks again. Then he grabbed Shintarou’s chin and pulled him down into a kiss.

"I just saw something I liked in you, Shintarou, and you haven’t proven me wrong yet." Shintarou’s lips turned up slightly. "But maybe promise me that you’ll think about it. Your daughter’s a part of your life that you’ve kept me away from. She’s apiece of you and I have every intention to one day love every part of you."

"You’re so weird, Kazunari. You want to move so slow physically yet you move incredibly fast emotionally."

"I’m moving slow  _because_  I’m falling incredibly fast for you.”

"You mean that?" Shintarou asked. Kazunari looked away with a slight blush before nodding his head slowly but confidently. This time is was Shintarou who grabbed Kazunari’s chin to pull him into a deep kiss.

"I’ll think about it and when the time is right, I’ll be happy to introduce you." Kazunari smirked.

"And when I feel the time is right, I will be happy to have sex with you." Shintarou blushed and playfully pushed Kazunari away from him before getting up to go turn the lights off. Kazunari just laughed and waited to feel Shintarou get into bed, before crawling under the covers himself and into Shintarou’s warm embrace.

"I can’t wait," Shintarou whispered. Kazunari wasn’t sure of which event Shintarou was talking about, but he felt his heart quicken at the idea that neither might be too far off.


	5. Chapter 5

Seven wonderful, blissful months of holding hands, cozy dinners, heated touching, and sweet words finally made Kazunari realize that they were ready.  _He_  was ready to take the next step. He was certain that both he and Shintarou felt the same way about each other. They were serious about holding onto what they had for as long as possible, and Kazunari realized that having sex with another man was not going to scare Shintarou off.

He’d called Shintarou after work on a Tuesday and asked him to come over. Shintarou had been more quiet than usual on the phone, as if he was filled with some sense of dread and impending doom about going to Kazunari’s after he got off work. Kazunari hadn’t given away his reason for asking Shintarou over, even though it was clearly suspicious for them to meet after work during the week. Their meetings during the week were limited to lunches together during breaks since Shintarou didn’t want to neglect his daughter. Yet Shintarou still agreed to meet with him and Kazunari didn’t expect to take very long.

Well after the sex anyway.

Kazunari got home and quickly set about doing some primping. He took a shower, shaved, put on these tight briefs that made his ass look fantastic, and finally made his bed look like presentable. He could have just waited until their regular meeting on Friday, but once he’d decided to go through with this, waiting seemed like absolute torment. All he could think about all day was how he wanted to move forward with Shintarou. Kazunari’s giddy mood made him feel like a virgin again (not that he’d ever treated his virginity like a big deal; he’d lost it in his 2nd year in high school to a 3rd year with blonde hair) but something about how much he cared for Shintarou made this seem like some cosmic event. An event he wanted to burn into all of his senses.

Kazunari was brushing all his stray hairs into place when Aomine and Kagami started barking, signaling that Shintarou had arrived. Kazunari took a deep breath, straightened the jeans and loose shirt he’d thrown over his briefs and went to answer the door.

Shintarou returned the wide smile that Kazunari gave him when he opened the door. Kazunari stepped aside to let Shintarou in and Shintarou stopped just inside the doorway, his smile replaced by a serious expression. Kazunari swallowed a lump in his throat at Shintarou’s expression. Had Shintarou guessed his intentions? Was he going to interject in some way?

"Shintarou?" Kazunari asked.

"I’m glad you called me over because I have something I want to tell you." Kazunari’s eyebrows pulled downwards in confusion. No hello or kiss or anything. Kazunari was starting to worry.

"Okay?" Shintarou took a deep breath and then stared at Kazunari, as if he just registered Kazunari’s appearance.

"You look really nice," Shintarou said, abruptly. Kazunari bit his lip.

"Thanks," he mumbled before looking Shintarou in the eye. The giddy mood he’d felt earlier was slowly draining away. Shintarou clasped his hands together, twisting his knuckles this way and that in a sign of nervousness.

"Today I went to pick up Chiemi from her daycare because she was feeling sick. I was at home taking care of her when you called. She was running a fever and she started crying because she was feeling so bad. I felt so useless. I was trying to take care and comfort her and it was wearing me thin. I needed some help and I just wanted someone else to lean on. " Shintarou took a shaking breath. Kazunari opened his mouth to say something, anything, but words wouldn’t come. He knew Shintarou still had much more to say. It was clear in the expression on his face. "Today, for the first time, I realized that I don’t want to do this alone anymore. I can’t, Kazunari."

"What does that mean?" Kazunari asked, the words harsh on his dry mouth and throat. He’d started holding his breath at one point. Kazunari thought about Shintarou’s tone on the phone earlier and the words he was saying now. Was Shintarou trying to tell him that they couldn’t be together anymore? Was he saying he needed to find a woman to be Chiemi’s mother?

"I need to know if you can do this. If I introduce you to my daughter, I’m expecting you to stay. I understand if you aren’t ready for this commitment, but this is my life. I like you, Kazunari—fuck I probably love you and I want to be with you. But from here on out, it won’t be just about us. It can’t be."

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds. Shintarou couldn’t meet Kazunari’s eyes and Kazunari was struggling to fully understand what Shintarou was saying.

"You want me to help you raise your daughter?" Kazunari thought out loud. Shintarou finally looked at him.

"Not immediately. I could never ask you for that. But if we decide to start moving in that direction, I expect that outcome, in time. I understand that taking care of someone else’s child isn’t someone in their twenties’s dream, but if you stay, I’m going to need that from you eventually. With that in mind, I understand if you want to leave."

"Shintarou," Kazunari whispered. Shintarou’s eyes held  a whole cluster of emotions, from nervousness to fear, determination to sadness. Kazunari was at a loss for words. He just wasn’t sure where to start. Shintarou was asking a huge commitment from him. It wasn’t as if Kazunari wasn’t expecting this step to come eventually, he’d said as much when he’d asked Shintarou to introduce him to Chiemi. However, being asked about it upfront made Kazunari stop in his tracks. Was Kazunari ready to have a kid? Because that’s what this would lead to. If Kazunari left, would he have the opportunity to have his own kid, by whatever means, later on in life? Kazunari wanted to think about Shintarou, but this decision was going to affect him so much.

"Shintarou?" Kazunari asked. Shintarou nodded slowly. "Do you really think that you love me?"

"I do," Shintarou said with a confident nod. Kazunari let out a small laugh.

"How can I think about anything other than that?" Kazunari asked with a smile. "I’ve spent the last seven months feeling like I’d met the most amazing guy on this entire planet, and I knew from the beginning that he had a daughter. I didn’t shy away from that fact on that day in the park, and I won’t run from it now. If you need a promise of commitment from me right now, then I’ll give it to you."

Kazunari smiled and stepped up to Shintarou, throwing his hands around Shintarou’s neck. Shintarou’s arms seemed to find their way to Kazunari’s waist. “We’ll make stellar parents,” Kazunari said with a smile. Shintarou still didn’t seem all that thrilled.

"Hopefully, Chiemi will like you as much as I do," he said. Kazunari smiled to show that he wasn’t too worried about that. He was a damn joy and he was certain that Shintarou’s daughter was going to see that. "I’d like to take you to dinner on Friday to meet her."

"Sounds like the second best day of my life, aside from the day we met." The absolutely cheesy comment finally made Shintarou smiled. Kazunari laughed before he pulled Shintarou down for a kiss. They pulled apart for a brief second and Kazunari ran his hands from Shintarou’s neck down his chest. Kazunari was just about to connect their lips again when Shintarou stopped him.

"What exactly did you want me to come over for?" Shintarou asked. Kazunari blushed deeply when he remembered what he’d intended to do with Shintarou before Shintarou had brought up his feelings. Kazunari tightened his fists in Shintarou’s shirt.

"I, uh, was going to tell you that I think we should-umm-have sex," Kazunari said with red cheeks. Shintarou’s eyes went wide. Kazunari rushed to explain. "I was inviting you over to have sex tonight. Obviously that isn’t going to happen now since you’re daughter is sick."

"But soon?" Shintarou asked. Kazunari just bit his lip. Shintarou leaned over and kissed the corner of Kazunari’s mouth. "So that’s why you look and smell so nice." Shintarou kissed Kazunari again.

Finally after several goodbyes and several more kisses, Shintarou opened the door to leave. Kazunari reached out and grabbed onto Shintarou’s sleeve. Shintarou turned to him with a smile, expecting another round of kisses. Instead Kazunari blushed really deeply.

"I think I love you too," he whispered quickly before he shut the door in Shintarou’s face. He heard Shintarou actually laugh on the other side of the door and Kazunari pressed his head to the door.

To be honest, Kazunari was way past the point of  _thinking_  he loved Shintarou.

-

Kazunari smoothed the napkin over his lap as he waited for that tall head of hair to walk through the restaurant door. Kazunari had gotten to the Western steakhouse ten minutes early in nervousness. He’d already drank a whole glass of water. Kazunari had no idea what Chiemi would be like. He’d only met her briefly at the park when Kazunari had asked Shintarou out.

Finally Shintarou appeared through the door, smiling once he saw Kazunari. Kazunari returned the smile with a blush as Shintarou came closer, a small hand clasped in his own. Chiemi’s hair, which was a shade lighter than Shintarou’s, was messily braided, stray strands sticking up this way and that. She was wearing a red dress with yellow socks and green shoes. Her whole appearance was adorably disheveled and mix-matched. Kazunari guessed Shintarou desperately needed his help with style.

"Hey," Shintarou said when he and Chiemi reached the table. Kazunari couldn’t drop his smile.

"Hey," Kazunari said in return. He looked down at the big brown eyes, wearily staring up at him. Kazunari stuck out his hand. "I’m Takao Kazunari." he glanced at Shintarou. "A friend of your father’s."

Chiemi glanced up at her father and Shintarou looked down at her with a small smile. “I’m the one with the dogs,” Kazunari said in an attempt to help Chiemi relax.

It worked because she suddenly smiled really wide, revealing young and slightly crooked teeth. She pulled her hand from Shintarou’s and clapped in excitement. Kazunari nodded. He knew he’d have no problem winning Chiemi over.

Shintarou sat he and Chiemi down across from Kazunari at the table. Chiemi immediately picked up her menu and began reading (assuming she could read). Shintarou glanced at Chiemi before he slid his hand across the table, palm up. He tried not to be obvious but Kazunari reached out and ran his fingers over Shintarou’s hand. He traced one finger after another over the lines on Shintarou’s palm and Shintarou tried to grab Kazunari’s hand. Kazunari pulled his hand away just as Shintarou’s fingers brushed against his skin. Kazunari just smiled.

"Daddy?" Chiemi asked. Shintarou turned towards his daughter.

"Yes?"

"Can I order some pasta?" Shintarou pulled Chiemi over and kissed her hair.

"Of course." Kazunari smirked. He stuck his foot out and rubbed it against Shintarou’s leg. Shintarou jumped in his seat.

"And what about me, Daddy? Can I order some pasta?" Kazunari said as he laughed. Shintarou glared at him then proceeded to kick Kazunari back. Chiemi looked between them, confused. 

The waitress came and took their drink orders. After she left, Chiemi started talking animatedly about some of the events that occurred during the week at her day care. Kazunari nodded and asked questions and Chiemi continued talking to him, all in a manner that suggested this wasn’t the first time the two had met. Kazunari kept glancing at Shintarou, who was smiling at the interaction between his daughter and lover.

"Mr. Takao," Chiemi asked well into their dinner, after their food had been delivered. Kazunari put his fork down and smiled at Chiemi. "Are you going to be my new Mommy?"

Shintarou choked on the food in his mouth. Kazunari fought to hide his smile.

"I suppose that depends on how nice of a ring your father buys me," Kazunari said with a smirk at Shintarou. Shintarou narrowed his eyes. Then he turned to his daughter and ran a hand over her hair.

"I told you that Kazunari—eh, Mr. Takao—is a friend of mine, a  _male_  friend of mine. He can’t be a mommy.” Chiemi’s eyebrows pulled down in confusion.

"But mommies and daddies hold hands." Chiemi then looked at Kazunari with the same confused expression. "And Daddy has been holding Mr. Takao’s hand." Shintarou and Kazunari both glanced at their hands. Kazunari had his fingers twisted around Shintarou’s. Shintarou blushed before he pulled his fingers back.

"Chiemi-"

"Just be honest with her," Kazunari said, cutting Shintarou off. Kazunari leaned forward and looked Chiemi in the eye. "Would you like it if I was your new Mommy?" Chiemi sucked her cheeks in like a fish which somehow suggested she was thinking about her answer to Kazunari’s question. She finally blew her cheeks out and turned to her father.

"If he lives with us, can I have the doggies?" Chiemi asked. Kazunari smiled. Shintarou looked between his daughter and Kazunari, looking like he was caught in some trap.

"I would think so," he stammered out.

"Aomine and Kagami would love it," Kazunari said. Chiemi turned to him with a wide smile. She really was the cutest thing. She looked enough like Shintarou that Kazunari could see the features that would make her into a beautiful woman someday. At this age, however, she looked like the cutest little princess

"I’ve always wanted dogs," Chiemi said as she started eating her food again. Shintarou smoothed down her hair and looked at Kazunari. He reached out and openly took Kazunari’s hand.

"Better start packing my boxes," Kazunari said. Shintarou just smirked at him. He pulled Kazunari’s fingers to his lips.

"There is an empty place in my room for you," Shintarou whispered before he dropped Kazunari’s hand and turned to wipe some food off Chiemi’s face with a napkin.

-

Shintarou ran his hands down Kazunari’s arms. It was a bit chilly out. Chiemi was sitting in the car, looking at the two of them. Their dinner had gone exceptionally well. Chiemi definitely liked Kazunari. It was obvious in the way she kept making plans for Kazunari to see her new dress, and her dolls, and her tree house. Kazunari had agreed to multiple play dates with Chiemi, who continued to clap happily. Shintarou’s smile seemed to get more relaxed and happy as the night went on. 

"I had such an amazing time," Kazunari whispered. He leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Shintarou, and rested his head on Shintarou’s shoulder. "She’s such a happy kid. You’ve done such an amazing job raising her."

"That means a lot to me," he whispered into Kazunari’s ear. "Though I’m pretty excited to start raising her together." Kazunari leaned back and looked into Shintarou’s eyes. 

"Were you serious about that empty spot in your bed?"

"I remember saying ‘room’ but the bed was implied." Shintarou smiled. Kazunari glanced at Chiemi in the car, who was now picking at the frills on her dress, before leaning up to Shintarou’s ear.

"Well then consider it occupied as of next Saturday," Kazunari said before he placed a kiss below Shintarou’s ear. Shintarou took a deep breath before he moved to kiss Kazunari. It was slow and deep, not too sexual in case Chiemi was watching but certainly full of passion.

"Well," Shintarou said once he pulled back, "I am certainly looking forward to preparing a nice dinner for you and my daughter next Saturday." Kazunari smirked.

"Then afterwards I’ll treat you to the best dessert of your life." Kazunari watched Shintarou blush before he kissed him again and bid him goodnight.


	6. Chapter 6

Kazunari pulled back slightly to try and get a breath in, but he barely managed an inhale before Shintarou’s lips were on his again. Not that Kazunari cared about getting oxygen to his brain when Shintarou’s tongue was pushing against his fervently and he was pinned between Shintarou and the wall just inside the door.

Finally, when Kazunari was getting very, very hot, he pushed on Shintarou’s shoulders. Shintarou stepped back, though not by much, and glanced down at Kazunari. They were both panting and Kazunari imagined his face was as red as Shintarou’s was. Shintarou opened his mouth to say something but he couldn’t manage to pull in enough air to make a sound. Kazunari smiled and kissed Shintarou lightly.

"Hello," Kazunari gasped out. "Maybe we should actually move past the door. I’d hate for your daughter to catch us like this." Shintarou finally seemed to snap back to reality and he stepped a good few feet away from Kazunari.

It was the special Saturday and Kazunari had spent all day thinking about what would happen tonight. In fact, Kazunari had thought so much about the details that he’d actually had to take care of the boner he got from it while he was in the shower. And judging by the way Shintarou had jumped his bones the second he’d stepped through the door, Kazunari guessed that Shintarou had spent the day thinking about it too.

Kazunari dropped his overnight bag onto the floor beside the door. Shintarou reached up and grabbed Kazunari’s face. Kazunari had to fight the blush off of his face. “Chiemi just got out of the bath. The food is on simmer, and we can eat as soon as she comes down. Afterwards I figured, we can all do something. Maybe watch a movie or Chiemi can show you every single one of her toys.” Shintarou leaned forward and pecked Kazunari on the lips. “And then you and I can do some things.”

"Some adult things?" Kazunari joked. Shintarou laughed and nodded his head and soon enough Kazunari was doing the same until they were both giggling kind of stupidly. They were interrupted by Chiemi running down the stairs, shouting "Mr. Takao! Mr. Takao!"

She ran up to Kazunari, throwing her arms open wide, and Kazunari didn’t hesitate to pick her up. She smiled really wide and gave Kazunari a sloppy kiss on his check. Kazunari smiled and glanced at Shintarou, who was positively beaming.

Shintarou announced that dinner was ready and Kazunari let Chiemi down so she could take off running into the kitchen. Then Kazunari reached out and took Shintarou’s hand and walked with him towards the kitchen.

-

Kazunari watched as Chiemi dragged toy after toy onto the floor in the living room. Kazunari was sitting on the floor and Shintarou was sitting behind him, with his hands around Kazunari’s waist and his chin on Kazunari’s shoulder. Chiemi was talking about her dolls, their names, and their backstories. Kazunari smiled, asked all the appropriate questions, and occasionally turned to kiss Shintarou when Chiemi looked away.

"Daddy?" Chiemi asked. Shintarou straightened out so he could ask what Chiemi wanted. "Can I have some juice?" Shintarou said she could only have a little bit since it was before her bedtime before he stood up and walked into the kitchen. Kazunari watched Shintarou walk away, perversely checking out Shintarou’s ass, when Chiemi reached out and grabbed Kazunari’s hand. Kazunari turned to her and smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really like my Daddy?" Kazunari nodded.

"I do."

"I’ve always wanted a Mommy," Chiemi whispered. Kazunari’s smile fell and he reached out to ruffle Chiemi’s hair.

"I can’t be your Mommy, Chiemi." Chiemi looked down sadly. "But I think, if you don’t mind it, that I can definitely be your Papa."

"Papa?" Chiemi asked as Shintarou returned with Chiemi’s cup of juice.

"Yes," Kazunari said. "See Papas are different from Mommies and Daddies. Papas have dogs and bake cookies and treat little Chiemi’s to one scoop of ice cream after day care on Fridays."

"Can Papas read me bed time stories?

"Absolutely," Kazunari said with a smile at Shintarou.

"Two stories?" Chiemi asked. Kazunari opened his mouth but Shintarou cut him off.

"One story, Chiemi," Shintarou said with a stern look. Chiemi stuck out her lower lip and took a sip of her juice. Shintarou leaned over and kissed Chiemi’s hair. She finished her juice and Shintarou told her it was time for bed. She asked if Kazunari could put her to bed and Shintarou agreed. Kazunari picker her up and took her upstairs. She showed Kazunari which room was hers and Kazunari set her down on the bed.  He helped her pick out her pajamas, chose a bedtime story while she changed, then proceeded to read the story to her until she fell asleep.

Kazunari shut Chiemi’s door behind him. He saw Shintarou coming up the stairs with his overnight bag. Kazunari smiled at him and Shintarou motioned for Kazunari to follow him. They walked to the door down the hall on the right, and Shintarou opened the door for Kazunari. Kazunari walked over to the king sized bed and took a seat while Shintarou shut the door.

Once they were both seated comfortably on Shintarou’s bed, Shintarou reached out and ran a hand softly through Kazunari’s hair. Kazunari took a deep breath and grabbed Shintarou’s hand.

"Are you as nervous as me?" Kazunari whispered. Shintarou nodded his head slowly. "I feel like a virgin, like this is my first time or something." Shintarou grabbed Kazunari’s chin. "I like you so much, Shintarou."

"Watching you with Chiemi today made me realize that I could spend the rest of my life with you and be completely happy," Shintarou whispered. Kazunari felt his heart beat quicken and his eyes felt really moist all of a sudden. "And I think we’re nervous because we don’t want to mess this up." Kazunari shook his head.

"You couldn’t possibly mess this up."

He leaned up and kissed Shintarou, softly at first and then much more fiercely and passionately. He eventually ended up on his back with Shintarou pinning him down. Kazunari felt Shintarou’s tongue inside his mouth and hands all over his chest. Kazunari reached down and pulled his shirt over his head. Shintarou continued kissing him and Kazunari reached down for the hem of Shintarou’s shirt. Once they were both shirtless, Shintarou laid his full weight on Kazunari and their kissing stepped up another notch.

Shintarou ran his thumbs gently over Kazunari’s hardening nipples as he kissed down Kazunari’s neck. Kazunari opened his mouth and let out a breathless whine as Shintarou swiped his tongue over this sensitive patch on Kazunari’s neck.

Kazunari dug his nails into Shintarou’s back as Shintarou took one of Kazunari’s nipples into his mouth. Kazunari ran one of his hands down Shintarou’s back until he slipped one hand into Shintarou’s pants to grab ahold of his lover’s ass Shintarou ground down onto Kazunari as Kazunari  squeezed and kneaded Shintarou’s cheek.

"Take them off," Kazunari whispered. He didn’t specify whether he meant his pants or Shintarou’s but Shintarou seemed to understand. He unbuttoned his pants and slipped them off. Kazunari ran his hand over Shintarou’s clothed erection and Shintarou let out a throaty growl. "Do you want me to blow you?" Kazunari whispered into Shintarou’s ear as he stroked Shintarou’s cock over his briefs.

"Can I blow you instead?" Shintarou asked. Kazunari’s eyes widened and he silently nodded. Shintarou kissed him as he reached down and unbuttoned Kazunari’s pants. He slid Kazunari’s pants off along with his briefs. Kazunari sat up as Shintarou slid down the bed so that his face was even with Kazunari’s cock.

Shintarou gave the head a slow lick and Kazunari gasped. He grabbed onto the sheets and Shintarou looked up at him. His hot breath on Kazunari’s cock was causing Kazunari’s skin to get goose flesh. Shintarou ran his hands up Kazunari’s thighs and then took a hold of his cock. Kazunari slammed his eyes shut and moaned as Shintarou put Kazunari’s cock into his mouth one inch at a time.

"Shintarou," Kazunari moaned out as Shintarou began to move his head up and down Kazunari’s cock. Kazunari fought to control himself from jerking his hips up into Shintarou’s mouth. This was Shintarou’s first blow job and it was obvious in his poor technique. He had to stop several times to take breaths and he caught himself gagging quite a bit. 

Despite all of that, it was still incredibly hot for Kazunari to see his cock disappearing into Shintarou’s mouth. The way Shintarou’s lips stretched around Kazunari’s dick and small drops of saliva escaped from his mouth made Kazunari’s toes curl.

"Shintarou, I’m going to come if you don’t stop." Shintarou pulled Kazunari’s cock out of his mouth and glanced up at him.

"Was it good?" Shintarou asked. Kazunari smiled.

"You’ll have plenty of opportunities to perfect your technique." Shintarou sat up and leaned forward to kiss Kazunari. Shintarou pulled back and looked at Kazunari.

"Do you remember that request I was going to make?" Kazunari nodded, eager to get to the sex. Shintarou grabbed Kazunari’s face with his hands. "I want you to be the one on top."

"Come again?"

"I’ve obviously never been with another man before," Shintarou rushed to say. "And with you, I want to know what its like." Shintarou looked at the confused look on Kazunari’s face. "Is that okay with you?"

"Of course. I just never expected you’d want to be the bottom. Not yet at least. Being on top is the most similar to the kind of sex you’ve already had so I figured you would want something familiar." Shintarou shook his head.

"It’s because I’m unfamiliar with it that I want to do it." Shintarou looked worried. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. I assumed you’d want to bottom eventually and I had been looking forward to it. I guess now I have the feeling of your cock inside of me to look forward to." Shintarou blushed and Kazunari ran his hands down Shintarou’s chest.

"It won’t hurt, will it?" Shintarou asked.

"I’ve got lube and condoms in my bag. I’ll make sure that you only feel pleasure." Shintarou leaned forward and kissed Kazunari before he got up and rummaged through Kazunari’s bag. He got back to the bed and handed Kazunari the items. Kazunari instructed Shintarou to straddle him and Shintarou did so, placing his hands on Kazunari’s shoulders. His cock was in Kazunari’s face and Kazunari bit his lip.

Kazunari lubed up his fingers and inserted the first finger inside Shintarou. Shintarou sucked in an enormously deep breath that he didn’t release until Kazunari started to pump that solitary finger in and out of him, and when he did release the air in his lungs, it came out in a deep rush that showed the tremor in his voice.

As Kazunari worked up to the second finger, he remembered something Shintarou had said to him when they’d began fooling around. Shintarou had commented that Kazunari’s face was mesmerizing when Shintarou was jerking him off, and the remark had been so embarrassing to Kazunari back then. However, watching Shintarou come nearly undone as he added the third finger, Kazunari understood the statement. Shintarou’s eyes were squeezed shut and his mouth was open, whines and moans escaping with every breath. He was hunched slightly over towards Kazunari and he was steadily grinding his hips back in an attempt to get Kazunari’s fingers even deeper inside himself.

He was absolutely beautiful and Kazunari doubted he’d ever find beauty in anything other than Shintarou ever again.

"Shintarou, look at me," Kazunari whispered as he spread his fingers wide to stretch Shintarou. He knew the sweet burn Shintarou was going through and he knew that comprehension was about to be beyond Shintarou’s capabilities, so he had to get these words out now. Shintarou cracked his eyes open and stared down at Kazunari with lust blown eyes. "I love you a lot," Kazunari whispered. Shintarou’s eyes widened completely and he opened his mouth to say something, though no words seem to come to him. He leaned over and grabbed Kazunari’s face, before bringing their lips together.

"I love you too," Shintarou whispered once he’d pulled back. Kazunari smiled at him and Shintarou kissed that smile. Kazunari kissed him once more as he slid his fingers out of Shintarou. Shintarou sighed as he was  again empty and Kazunari grabbed a condom. He was about to open it when Shintarou took it from him.

"I’ve got this," he said with a sexy smile that was out of place on Shintarou’s face. Shintarou pushed Kazunari flat onto his back and moved to straddle him once more. He unrolled the condom down Kazunari’s cock, which had become incredibly wet from Kazunari fingering Shintarou,  before he’d properly lubed up Kazunari’s cock and his entrance. Kazunari  sat up to change their positions but Shintarou pushed him back down. "Like this."

Kazunari merely nodded and watched, utterly transfixed, as Shintarou slowly dropped himself down onto Kazunari’s cock until he was resting on Kazunari’s lap. Shintarou hissed during the motion from the pain of being stretched like never before but once he was fully seated on Kazunari’s cock, his face contorted in pleasure and he gasped. His position had Kazunari pressed deep inside of him, right against  _that_  spot, the one that sent lighting down every one of Shintarou’s nerves.

Likewise Kazunari was taking deep shaky breaths because Shintarou was virgin tight and so warm that every part of Kazunari except for his cock felt like it was frozen in comparison. Kazunari reached shaky hands up to grasp Shintarou’s hips, and the two looked at each other for the first time since actually joining their bodies.

"I love you," Kazunari repeated, his voice hoarse from the ragged breaths tearing their way from his throat. Shintarou, who seemed ready to come already, could only nod in agreement, too overcome to speak any words at all. He tensed his thigh muscles and began the slow lift off of Kazunari’s cock. The motion had them both moaning quietly and soon Shintarou was dropping himself down once again.

Soon enough Shintarou was riding Kazunari with fervor, sloppily lifting and dropping himself onto Kazunari’s cock. He had no technique and his rhythm was off, but Kazunari, the one with all the experience here, matched his upward thrusts to Shintarou so that he slammed into Shintarou’s sweet spot just as he was coming down. Shintarou’s moans weren’t quiet anymore and he was biting his lips to try and keep himself from moaning his throat raw.

"Too fast, Shintarou," Kazunari whispered as he grabbed Shintarou’s hips to try and guide him to a slower, sweeter rhythm. Shintarou seemed in his own world with pleasure as he let himself be guided into the motion by Kazunari. He leaned forward over Kazunari and placed his hands on either  side of Kazunari’s face. Shintarou’s eyes remained mostly closed through the whole thing, but Kazunari couldn’t even dream of dragging his eyes away from Shintarou’s face, which was contorted in absolute pleasure.

Shintarou’s eyes slid open and his ragged voice whispered, “I’m gonna…feels too good…love you.” Kazunari nodded, understand every part of Shintarou broken jumble of words. Shintarou was coming without a single touch to his cock because his prostate had never experienced stimulation like this before. He didn’t have the stamina to endure any more.

Shintarou sat himself down completely, his muscles burning, so that his sweet spot was pressed against Kazunari’s cock and slowly grinded the two together. Kazunari tipped his head back and moaned as that heat enveloped him completely. Shintarou was barely holding himself together as he mouthed Kazunari’s name over and over gain.

Finally, with several harsh jerks of his hips, Shintarou came onto Kazunari’s chest, his back arching and his lips opening to release the highest pitched whine Kazunari had ever heard from Shintarou. Shintarou’s whole body trembled as he rotated his hips several more times to ride out his orgasm. Kazunari licked his lips as he watched. He wasn’t too far himself and seeing Shintarou’s phenomenal reaction to experiencing cock for the first time had brought Kazunari that much closer.

Shintarou straightened out so that he could continue his motions until Kazunari came and he was just lazily picking himself up when a soft knock on the door startled him and Kazunari.

"Daddy?" a soft, scared sounding voice, called from the other side of the door. He heard sniffles and went still immediately. He glanced back at Kazunari with an apologetic look before he crawled off of Kazunari and found the pants he’d thrown off earlier. He had to stop and allow his body to completely shake off the haze of pleasure before he got dressed and went to the door. Kazunari slumped against the bed and pulled the sheet up to cover him, and his still hard cock, from Chiemi’s view.

Shintarou opened the door and Chiemi rubbed her eyes before she looked  up at her dad. Shintarou wiped his hands on his pants before he pulled Chiemi into his arms.

"What’s wrong?" Chiemi sniffled and clung to Shintarou.

"I had a bad dream about a scary monster that was chasing me, you, and Papa." Shintarou brushed down her hair and began rocking side to side to soothe her. She cried a little and Shintarou cooed her into calming down. Kazunari sat up while keeping himself as covered as possible and smiled because not only was Shintarou’s being very fatherly just so heartwarming but Chiemi had also referred to him as ‘Papa.’

"Let’s go put you back to sleep," Shintarou whispered. Chiemi shook her head and clung harder to Shintarou. Shintarou sent Kazunari another apologetic look. "What if Daddy checks your room for monsters and then sleeps with you, just to protect you?" Chiemi slowly nodded. Shintarou turned towards Kazunari. "Sorry, Kazunari."

"You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I’ll finish up so go take care of Chiemi." Shintarou whispered ‘I love you’ to Kazunari and he whispered it back as Shintarou shut the door behind him as he went back to Chiemi’s room. Kazunari crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom to begin taking a shower. He jerked himself off in the shower to the memory of mere minutes ago and then got dressed in the extra clothes he’d brought in his overnight bag. He hadn’t planned on sleeping in clothes tonight, but plans often change when you have a kid.

He made his way to Chiemi’s room, where Shintarou was laying in bed next to a sleeping Chiemi. Kazunari smiled. “I think I’m just gonna head home,” he whispered.

"No, stay." Shintarou pat the small bed on the other side of him. "Please stay." Kazunari smiled wider before he came over and crawled into bed with both of the Midorimas. He wrapped his arms around Shintarou and snuggled as close as he could. They were squished together so that Chiemi had as much room as possible.

"Sorry," Shintarou whispered again.

"Don’t be. I wouldn’t change what happened for anything. That was amazing. You were…I’ve never…that was the best sex I’ve ever had." Kazunari kissed Shintarou’s cheek. Shintarou smiled and kissed Kazunari’s lips.

"Let’s see if we can make next time even better." Kazunari chuckled before he snuggled up beside the two most precious people in his life, his lover and his daughter. Finally every member of the family was fast asleep, deep in their own pleasant dreams, the happiest any of them had been in a very long time.


	7. One Year Later

Waking up beside Shintarou was something that was never going to get old, not for Kazunari. He’d moved in with Shintarou almost six months ago, a time most people would think to be too soon. But Kazunari knew it wasn’t. He and Shintarou had discussed it thoroughly, from the advantages Kazunari would bring monetarily to how he’d be able to help raise Chiemi. They talked about possible disadvantages and most of the ones they came up with where minuscule and only thought of once they forced themselves to be cynical.

They were happy. He and Shintarou took turns cooking, picking up Chiemi from daycare, and they split all household chores. It made more time for them as a family, which made the relationship between Kazunari and Chiemi like that of a father and daughter. She had started calling him Papa and he didn’t hesitate to cherish her as if she were his own.

Of course, moving in meant that Shintarou and Kazunari had even more time to fall in love. Sleeping in the same bed every night meant they fell asleep after talking and laughing and loving. Kazunari got into the habit of telling at least one bad joke a night that had them both laughing into their hands in an attempt not to wake up Chiemi. Kazunari got to learn that Shintarou mumbled in his sleep and Shintarou unfortunately got to learn that Kazunari liked to stick his cold feet against Shintarou’s warm skin. Falling asleep together, whether they prefaced it with sex or not, made them both feel complete.

The best part for Kazunari, however, was getting to wake up beside the love of his life. To get to see Midorima’s sleeping face and hear him mumble Kazunari’s name in his sleep, to see his eyelids open when he woke up-these were the things that told Kazunari that this was truly what he wanted.

-

Kazunari reached out and brushed his fingers through Shintarou’s bangs. Shintarou smiled but kept his eyes closed. Kazunari smiled before he leaned forward and kissed Shintarou’s eyelids and then his nose. Shintarou opened one eye before leaned forward and kissed Kazunari’s lips. Kazunari pulled back and grabbed Shintarou’s face.

"Want me to make breakfast?" Kazunari smiled and ran his thumb over Shintarou’s lips. "Or we could just hang out in bed and maybe kiss some more, maybe show me those new skills of yours…" Kazunari smiled and Shintarou followed, his own lips turning upwards.

They kissed again, however, this time Shintarou sat up and pushed Kazunari onto his back. He leaned over him and moved to kiss under his chin and then down his neck. They had almost ninety minutes until Shintarou had to leave for work which left them ample time to fool around, shower afterwards, and still prepare breakfast for Chiemi.

Kazunari was just beginning to run his hands down Shintarou’s chest when a shrill ringing sound echoed from down the hallway. Shintarou sat back and licked his lips while Kazunari couldn’t contain his laughter. That was the sound of Chiemi’s alarm clock, which meant that they unfortunately had to stop.

Shintarou looked at Kazunari with the same apologetic look he gave every time they were interrupted. It was like their first time all over again with Shintarou feeling guilty about it. Kazunari was used to it, and he would happily trade those interrupted moments for the time he got to spend with his family all together.

"I’ll go make breakfast," Kazunari said as he sat up and kissed Shintarou’s cheek. He crawled out of bed and slipped on a loose t-shirt and sweat pants. Shintarou frowned and Kazunari winked at him. "Just think about how the faster you get home, the faster you get to have me."

"Which reminds me," Shintarou said as he got out of bed, "I’ll be late again tonight so you’ll have to get Chiemi from daycare." Kazunari frowned.

"You’ve been working really hard lately. Everything okay?" Shintarou nodded as he walked up to Kazunari, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist.

"This case has just been insane and the firm wants me to go through all these old files. It’s been hectic. It makes me miss you and Chiemi."

"Well maybe we can come visit you at work one day," Kazunari said with a smile. Shintarou smiled and kissed Kazunari.

"I’d love that, but unfortunately that day can’t be today." Kazunari gave Shintarou another kiss before he slipped out of his lover’s arms and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"I’ll probably take Chiemi to the park today after I pick her up," Kazunari said with a mouth full of toothpaste. Shintarou ran a hand down his face at the completely ridiculous notion that Kazunari actually believed Shintarou could understand him like that. Kazunari almost choked on his toothpaste when he started laughing. He spit it out and rinsed his mouth before he repeated himself.

"She’d enjoyed that," Shintarou said he passed Kazunari on his way to the bathroom sink. Kazunari nodded, gave Shintarou a kiss on the cheek, and left to go start making breakfast.

-

"Papa, can we get ice cream after daycare today?" Chiemi asked, as she chewed on some of her cereal. Kazunari glanced at Shintarou and Shintarou shook his head.

"Chiemi, you know Papa only takes you out for ice cream on Fridays." Chiemi turned to Shintarou and started to pout, a trick she’d learned and perfected with the help of Kazunari. Kazunari smiled at Chiemi before he turned and pouted at Shintarou. Shintarou sighed. Like hell he could stand his ground when both of his babies were giving him those pitiful looks. "Alright, but just this time."

Kazunari and Chiemi high-fived. Shintarou shook his head and Kazunari crossed the island to kiss his cheek. They grabbed each other’s hands and gave a tight squeeze before Shintarou stood up. He downed the rest of his coffee, put the empty cup in the sink, and headed for the front door. Kazunari followed him.

"Have a good day at work," Kazunari said as grabbed Shintarou’s tie and pulled him into a kiss. Shintarou smiled into it before he pulled back and smirked.

"Domestic is a really hot look on you, Kazunari." Kazunari smirked too before he reached behind Shintarou and grabbed his ass. Shintarou smiled before he gave another kiss to Kazunari, grabbed his briefcase, and left. Kazunari stood with a stupid smile on his face before Chiemi called him into the kitchen.

-

Kazunari laughed as Chiemi squealed in delight. Kazunari was running around with Chiemi on his shoulders and Aomine and Kagami chasing after them, barking. The park, the same one where Kazunari had asked Shintarou out at, was surprisingly bare for an afternoon. Kazunari was using that to his advantage.

When they’d spoken on the phone earlier, Shintarou had said that he probably wouldn’t be home until just before dinner. Kazunari decided that he’d treat Chiemi to the best afternoon at the park since they had time. He’d let her run around and play until her legs felt like jello.

"Papa!" Kazunari stopped running and looked up at Chiemi. She removed one of her hands from his neck and pointed at the playground set. "Can I go play over there?" Kazunari smiled and set Chiemi onto the ground. He ordered her to stay where he could see her before he let her loose to go play on the play set with the other kids in the park. Then he took the dogs and his bag to the open bench beside the playground set.

Kazunari watched Chiemi play around for a while before he took out some oranges from his bag and began peeling them. He knew Chiemi would be hungry and thirsty after playing and he wanted to make sure she didn’t dehydrate.

He was just finishing his third orange, when he looked up and saw something. He’d glanced up to watch Chiemi go down the slide and his eyes just naturally took in his surroundings. As someone who’d once studied to be a journalist, Kazunari was very observing of his surroundings. This meant that the woman standing on the edge of the playground with no child and no bag, made him instantly on edge. Kazunari stopped peeling and stared at the woman, suspicious. 

Parents always had bags, like he did, for diapers, snacks, and drinks. It was just a parent thing, but this woman had nothing. She was just standing, with her arms crossed, watching the children. It was a very unnerving thing for a parent to witness. Kazunari was resigned to just keeping an eye on her, giving her the benefit of the doubt.

That is, until she started walking towards the children.

Kazunari instantly put down the things in his hands and stood up. He began walking towards her, hoping to cut her off before she reached the kids. Maybe he was acted paranoid but the feeling in his stomach and the look in her eyes was just off.

Kazunari was just a few feet away when the woman kneeled down in front of one of the children in the playground. Kazunari started taking even bigger steps when he noticed which little girl with familiar braids the woman was talking to.

"Chiemi!" Kazunari immediately scooped Chiemi into his arms and stared at the woman with a rather unkind look. Chiemi wrapped her little arms around Kazunari and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "Can I help you?" Kazunari asked the woman.

She had short hair angled in a bob that was chin length. Her eyes were small and beautifully shaped and her skin had a nice tan to it. She stood up and looked between Kazunari and Chiemi.

"Who are you?" she asked. Kazunari gave her a shocked look.

"You took the question right out of my mouth," he said. The woman stole another look at Chiemi.

"I’m her mother," the woman said, tipping her chin up confidently. Kazunari laughed in her face.

"Nice try but she doesn’t have a mother." The woman raised an eyebrow. The look she was giving Kazunari suggested she thought he was trying to kidnap Chiemi.

"How do you know that?” she asked, her tone very accusatory.

"Because," Kazunari said with his full repertoire of anger and sass, "I’m her father’s boyfriend." The woman’s eyes went wide and Kazunari smiled. Let’s see her try to comeback with something after that, he thought.

The woman covered her mouth with her hand before she whispered, “Shintarou’s gay?”

Kazunari’s eyebrows pulled down and he immediately frowned.

"What?" he asked, utterly shocked to hear this stranger say Shintarou’s name. He glanced at Chiemi who was thankfully staring at the dogs running round, clearly not paying attention.

"I told you," the woman said with an honest look on her face, "I’m her mother. Listen I need to talk to Shintarou so if you’re his—" She seemed to trip on her next words. "—boyfriend, then you need to tell him to call me. My number is the same so he shouldn’t have any trouble reaching me.”

Kazunari didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t really be Chiemi’s mother, could she? Chiemi’s mother had been missing for years, with no letters or phone calls. What could she be doing here now?

Kazunari couldn’t think of the proper thing to say so he just said the words that reflected his shock. “Stay away from us.” He turned and walked away, passed the bench to get his bag and the dog’s leashes, and headed straight for his car. He put Chiemi into her car seat and immediately dialed Shintarou’s number.

"Hey, Kazunari," Shintarou said as he picked up. "I really can’t talk right now. We’re so swamped. We just picked up three new cases and—"

"Shintarou," Kazunari said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "You need to come home, right now." Shintarou heard the slight quiver in Kazunari’s voice and Kazunari heard him stop breathing on the other line.

"What’s wrong? Is Chiemi okay?"

"Yes, yes, she’s fine. But Shintarou—" Kazunari took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Shintarou, Azami is here."

"What?" Shintarou asked after several long seconds. 

"She just walked up to Chiemi in the park. Shintarou, why is she here? What could she possibly want?" Kazunari knew his voice was rising and he took deep breaths to calm himself down.

If Azami was here, then Kazunari knew something was about to happen. She’d given up Chiemi shortly after she was born and she’d never been back since. She’d never had any desire to know her daughter. So why was she showing up now that they were finally a happy, perfect family?

"I’ll be home in a few minutes," Shintarou whispered. Kazunari nodded even though Shintarou couldn’t see him. They said a very tense goodbye and hung up. Kazunari put his head in his hands.

"Papa?" Chiemi asked from her car seat. She might have been a child, but even she wasn’t oblivious to the tense air surrounding Kazunari. Kazunari turned to her and smiled.

"Let’s get you some ice cream and then head home, okay?"

-

Kazunari ran his hands through Shintarou’s hair and Shintarou tightened his hold on Kazunari. Shintarou had rushed home and Kazunari had immediately told him about what had happened, but he’d been in such a panic that it had all come out in a jumbled mess. After several deep breaths and forehead kisses, he’d finally managed to retell Shintarou all the details of meeting Azami in the park.

"What could she want?" Kazunari said. Shintarou sat up on the couch and looked at Kazunari.

"She probably wants to get to know Chiemi."

"And?" Kazunari asked. Shintarou knew what he was asking. Shintarou had full custody of Chiemi since he’d raised her from birth all by himself. If Azami wanted to meet and get to know Chiemi, she’d need Shintarou’s approval.

"And that’s not something she can have," Shintarou said.

"Shintarou—"

"No. She gave Chiemi up. She didn’t want her. She can’t come back years later and decide to be a mother now that its convenient for her. That’s not fair to Chiemi, especially if Azami ends up leaving again."

"Shintarou, she’s Chiemi’s mother."

"Chiemi doesn’t need a mother. She has me—" Shintarou grabbed Kazunari’s face "—and she has you. Azami is unneeded." Kazunari shook his head and grabbed Shintarou’s face instead.

"It’s cruel for Chiemi to have to grow up thinking that her mother didn’t want her. You can change that, Shintarou. You have the final say in all things concerning Chiemi, but I’m urging you to call Azami and work something out. I’ll admit I was freaked out when I ran into her, but that was an initial panic. She needs to at least know her mother, Shintarou."

"And if Azami leaves again?" Shintarou asked. Kazunari pulled Shintarou’s head to his chest.

"We just have to hope that she won’t."


	8. Chapter 8

Kazunari looked at the phone lying on the table like some cursed object. He’d grabbed it during his argument with Shintarou, but he couldn’t hold it for too long. It was just too heavy; it’s meaning too ominous.

“Just call her, Shintarou. You know it’s the right thing to do.” Shintarou turned angrily towards Kazunari, but Kazunari refused to back down. He knew Shintarou wasn’t really angry with him. Okay, maybe he was, just a little bit because Kazunari kept pushing the issue. But Shintarou’s real problem was with Azami showing up like she had done.

“I know it seems like this is right thing to do, but I know that this isn’t going to change anything.”

“You don’t know that,” Kazunari reasoned. “People change. Every day, every second. You did. Five years ago you probably never imagined that you’d be together with a man.” Shintarou’s eyebrows pulled down. He clearly didn’t like Kazunari’s example.

“That’s different,” Shintarou said.

“No,” Kazunari said with a shake of his head. “It’s not.”

“So she decided that she wanted to have kids now? Wanted my child?”

“You really just expected her to forget that she had Chiemi, simply because she didn’t help raise her.”

“It would certainly be for the best,” Shintarou said, obvious poison in his words. Kazunari had to look away. He just couldn’t see that expression on Shintarou’s face. It was malicious and he didn’t like this side of Shintarou. Kazunari knew that it was only because Shintarou wanted to protect Chiemi, himself, and Kazunari. But the words he was speaking were just so cruel.

“Are you sure that you aren’t just angry?” Kazunari said, glancing back at Shintarou.

“Of course I’m angry,” Shintarou said, raising his voice. Kazunari raised an eyebrow and Shintarou took a deep breath. He took a seat across the table from Kazunari and grabbed his lover’s hands. “I can’t not be angry. I was eighteen and she left me to raise a child on my own.”

Kazunari reached out and brushed the backs of his fingers across Shintarou’s cheeks. Shintarou closed his eyes and reached up to hold Kazunari’s hand to his cheek.

“Do you not think that your anger is keeping you from thinking about what’s really best for Chiemi?” Shintarou looked at Kazunari and Kazunari smiled sympathetically at him. Shintarou sighed, signaling his defeat.

He stood up and disappeared into the kitchen. He returned seconds later with a scrap of paper with a phone number written on it. He took a seat, this time beside Kazunari, and breathed deeply. Kazunari took his free hand.

“I always kept her number handy,” Shintarou said, raising the paper in question. “In case, I needed medical history or a passport or anything.”

“Chiemi deserves to know that she has a mother. It’s not to late for Azami to fix this. Maybe not with you, but certainly with Chiemi. She won’t have to see moms picking up other children at daycare and wonder why she doesn’t have that. We don’t have to change, but Chiemi deserves to at least know Azami.” 

Shintarou nodded and grabbed the phone. He began dialing before placing the phone to his ear. Kazunari smiled and leaned into him so that Shintarou could be fully aware of his presence. Shintarou would need him to stay grounded and Kazunari was happy to be his anchor.

“Hello,” Shintarou said, his voice tense and cold. Kazunari leaned over and kissed above his shoulder. Shintarou instantly released the breath he was holding.

While Shintarou talked with Azami, a conversation that was certainly pushing the limits of Shintarou’s patience and generosity, Kazunari continued to kiss and touch him. They weren’t sexual in meaning. Kazunari wrapped his arms around Shintarou and kissed his neck so that Shintarou wouldn’t forget why he was even talking to Azami at all. He was doing it so that everything would work out. He was doing it to provide the best for the people he loved, and Kazunari was going to be beside him through it all.

Finally he hung up the phone and put it down on the table. Kazunari laid his head on Shintarou’s shoulder. Shintarou took several deep breaths and calmed down. Once Shintarou was ready to convey what had happened during the conversation, Kazunari sat up, cupped his cheek in one hand, and brought their lips together. Shintarou physically relaxed into the kiss, all his muscles unlocking.

“She wants to meet,” Shintarou said. “I told her that I wasn’t letting her near Chiemi until she could convince me that she was sincere and that she had Chiemi’s best interests in mind.”

“That’s good.” Kazunari ran his thumb across Shintarou’s cheek.

“We’re meeting this Saturday to talk. You’ll come, won’t you?” Kazunari must have looked unsure because Shintarou rushed on. “I can’t do it without you. I’ll just get angry. I need you. Besides, you’re as much Chiemi’s parent as I.”

Kazunari smiled and tilted Shintarou’s head down so he could kiss his forehead. “Of course, I’ll come with you. I’d never leave you to do this alone. You’ll always have me by your side. Count on me.”

“I love you,” Shintarou said, leaning his head into Kazunari’s chest.

“I love you too.”

-

Kazunari looked between Shintarou and Azami. It wasn’t hard for him to imagine the two of them as a couple. Shintarou was tall, well-built, handsome. Kazunari knew that he’d played basketball in high school and he could only imagine Shintarou standing, sweaty, on the court. He must have looked like some kind of god, at least to teenage eyes.

Azami, likewise, was really beautiful. Her dark skin, hair, and eyes all worked in a beautiful combination. She looked like a model out of some international magazine. Even her voice made Kazunari think she was beauty incarnate. It didn’t make Kazunari feel inferior in any way (he was confident enough in himself), but it certainly made him imagine what people must have thought when they saw him and Shintarou together.

“Azami,” Shintarou said. She nodded.

“Shintarou.” Azami looked at Kazunari and Shintarou took his hand, intwining their fingers upon the table for all to see.

“This is Takao Kazunari, my partner.” Azami nodded, though she looked uncomfortable with the idea that the father of her child was into men now.

“And is he involved with Chiemi’s raising?” Azami asked.

“Yes,” Kazunari said at the same second that Shintarou said, “It’s none of your business.”

Kazunari sent Shintarou a look and bumped his knee against Shintarou’s. Then he pulled his hand away from Shintarou’s and put it out for Azami to shake.

“I’d like to apologize,” Kazunari said. “For my rudeness at the park.” Azami shook her head, a small smile coming to her full lips.

“It’s actually quite comforting that you were so protective and cautious of a stranger with my daughter. I must admit I was very shocked. Hearing that you were involved with Shintarou was certainly not what I was expecting.”

“How’d you find us?” Shintarou asked. Despite the harsh word choice, these were the first words he’d spoken that didn’t host any malice. Azami nodded.

“I hired a private investigator. I gave them your name and that was all they needed.”

“Must have been expensive,” Shintarou said. Kazunari gave him another look.

“Nothing I couldn’t afford with my salary. I’m actually working as a PR consultant for this company in the city. I have a nice career and stable lifestyle.” She was clearly saying the words so that she could assure Shintarou that she was living a good life, one that she could make Chiemi comfortable with if she got to spend time with her. However, her words backfired. They backfired big time.

“Yeah,” Shintarou said, with an ugly scowl. “You get good paying jobs when you get to go to college, when your not raising a child.”

“Shintarou, you know I didn’t mean it that way.” He scoffed and Kazunari grabbed his arm.

“Can I talk to you?” He said, pulling Shintarou out of his chair. He stalked off outside of the restaurant and far enough away that people wouldn’t eavesdrop or watch them. “You’re really not giving her a chance,” Kazunari said, his own voice carrying an angry, accusatory tone.

“I can’t help it. She’s just—”

“She’s what, Shintarou? She’s trying. I haven’t heard one mean thing come out of her mouth, or anything to suggest that she isn’t sincere in wanting to know her daughter. Just because you hate her doesn’t mean you have the right to make Chiemi hate her too.” Shintarou took a deep breath. “Now you will either go back in there and listen to her with your own sincerity or I swear to god, I won’t even be able to look at you for a week.”

Shintarou shook his head. He wrapped his arms around Kazunari, but Kazunari just stood there, unmoving so Shintarou knew how serious he was. “Promise me,” Kazunari said.

“I promise,” Shintarou whispered. He buried his face in Kazunari’s hair. Once Kazunari knew that Shintarou was honest, he returned Shintarou’s embrace. When they put some space between them, Kazunari kissed Shintarou’s cheek.

“Now let’s go prove to her that you’re the kind, amazing father that I know you are.”

-

Azami was kind enough to not ask anything as they sat back down at the table. She smiled graciously at Kazunari and Kazunari nodded back at her. Shintarou grabbed Kazunari’s hand under the table, squeezing tightly.

“I’m sorry,” he said. Azami shook her head.

“I know that you are angry with me. I let both of you down and I can only imagine how much trouble you’ve been through.” She glanced at them both. “I wasn’t ready to have a kid. My parents were so upset and my dad couldn’t even look at me. They just kept saying that I’d ruined my life. It was too much for me.

“I’m not saying that as an excuse. None of that makes it okay that I abandoned you and Chiemi, but I just need you to know that I never stopped regretting it. During these last six years, I would walk around and see all these mothers with their daughters and I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if any of them were Chiemi. I wondered if you’d gotten married and she’d grown up with a mother who was there for her. I may not know her, Shintarou, but I do lover her.” Azami stopped to wipe at the tears pooling in her eyes. She took a deep breath and continued. “I always wanted to come back, meet her, help you, but I knew that I couldn’t. I had to make something of myself so that I could take care of her on my own. I needed to be stable so that I could make sure that she would never want for anything. I understand if you don’t trust me, but Shintarou, I am honestly not going anywhere if you allow me to get to know her.”

Shintarou had his own tears brimming in his eyes and Kazunari slipped his hand around Shintarou’s waist. He shook his head. “I’m not sure I completely forgive you. Not yet, but Chiemi’s as much your daughter as she is mine. You don’t need my forgiveness. You just need to make sure she’s happy. She’s all that matters.” 

Kazunari smiled at Shintarou because this was the man he’d fallen in love with. Selfless, gentle, and logical Shintarou. He knew Chiemi came first and he would always make sure that he provided her with what she needed. And he knew that Chiemi needed her mom.

“I must insist that you meet with Chiemi under my supervision, at least for now. As long as I have sufficient notice, then we can meet for dinners or afternoons to play. Kazunari and myself will always be there until Chiemi can fully understand what my leaving her alone with you means.” Azami nodded, clearly understanding and accepting Shintarou’s conditions.

Once they set up a date and time to introduce Chiemi and Azami, next Sunday afternoon, Shintarou left to go get the car from where he’d left it. Kazunari smiled at Azami who was staring at him.

“Thank you,” Azami said, clearly acknowledging Kazunari’s role in all of this. Kazunari shook his head.

“Shintarou wants this. All I did was help him think through his emotions to put Chiemi first.” She shook her head this time.

“I’m not thanking you for that,” she said. Kazunari’s eyebrows pulled down. “I wanted to thank you for taking care of them both. I did love Shintarou once, and I’m happy that he’s found someone that loves him as much as you clearly do. I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy on you to accept becoming a father to a child that isn’t yours.”

“You’re wrong,” Kazunari said with a fond smile. “Chiemi is mine and so is Shintarou. I wasn’t ready to be a dad until I met this incomplete family, and I realized that there were only two people in this world I could ever imagine giving myself to. People always say something about home and the heart and now I know that they’re right. I can’t imagine being happy in any place where I can't be with Chiemi and Shintarou.”


	9. Chapter 9

Shintarou was surprisingly relaxed. He was holding Kazunari's hand over the center console and Chiemi was sitting in her car seat in the back. They were on the way to meet Azami for THE playdate. This would be the first chance that Chiemi was going to be introduced to Azami.

Both Shintarou and Azami had agreed to let Azami introduce herself to Chiemi. Kazunari was unsure whether Azami was going to be open from the start about her role in Chiemi's life and he wasn't sure how Chiemi would respond. However, Kazunari knew that this was the right decision. This was going to be better for everyone and Kazunari had told Shintarou that so many times over the last week.

Shintarou had said it himself this morning when Kazunari was lying in his arms.

"Everything's gonna go wonderfully," Shintarou said, his breath tickling Kazunari's scalp. Kazunari looked up at him and smiled. Kazunari had to reassure Shintarou a lot in the beginning. Shintarou only had himself to rely on for the first years of Chiemi's life and he struggled with the knowledge that he now had Kazunari and Azami. But in the past couple of weeks, Shintarou had relaxed a lot. He realized that not only was he no longer alone, but he had someone to take care of him now.

"You're wonderful," Kazunari whispered. He ran his hand down Shintarou's arm before he intertwined their fingers, brought them to his lips, and kissed their knuckles. "We're all full of love. I've never known anyone who loves like you do. Chiemi is you daughter and she's always going to love you. Azami once loved you and she trusts you to take care of her daughter." Kazunari sat up and looked at Shintarou. "I love you and know that you _are_ the most amazing man I've ever met. When all of those things come together, there is no way today can go bad."

Shintarou reached up to hold Kazunari's face between his palms. Kazunari smiled softly. This, what they had going, was already magical enough. Adding in another person's happiness and Chiemi getting a chance to know her mother was only going to multiply the beauty of this union. Kazunari knew it in his very soul and, judging from Shintarou's expression, he knew it too. Kazunari leaned forward and kissed Shintarou.

"Still nervous?" he asked once he pulled back. Shintarou bit his lip.

"Just a bit," he admitted. Kazunari smiled wickedly before he kissed Shintarou again.

"I'll take care of that," Kazunari said against Shintarou's lips before he slipped under the covers.

After they both finally got up to get ready, Shintarou was no longer nervous.

-

"You asked me out at this park," Shintarou said as they pulled into a parking spot. Kazunari looked at him and smiled before squeezing his hand.

"It's a park of new beginnings."

They both got out of the car and Shintarou went to get Chiemi. Kazuanri looked for Azami and found her sitting at a picnic table. She saw them and waved. Kazunari waved back before turning to grab Shintarou's free hand. They made their way over to where Azami was sitting. Azami stood up and Kazunari noticed that she already had tears in her eyes. Shintarou put Chiemi down and she grabbed his other hand.

"Hi," Azami choked out around her tightened throat. Kazunari felt tears burning at his own eyes because this was a beautiful moment. He squeezed Shintarou's hand. "My name is Azami and I'm-" Azami stopped and looked at Shintarou who smiled and nodded. Kazunari smiled too before leaning into Shintarou. "I'm your Mommy, Chiemi."

"I don't have a mommy," Chiemi said with a look back at her father. Shintarou kneeled beside his daughter and smoothed down her hair.

"Azami--your mother--has just been gone for a while. But she's back and she's going to help take care of you." Chiemi looked sad.

"But I want to stay with Daddy and Papa," Chiemi said. Shintarou shook his head and smiled.

"You're going to be staying with us, but we're going to have playdates with Azami and she's going to come over for dinner. If you like her and you think she's nice, then you can go to the city with her and she'll buy you toys and take you to the zoo. Okay?" Chiemi seemed to like that idea because she nodded and turned back to Azami. Azami thanked Shintarou again before she sat beside Chiemi in the grass.

"Where did you go?" Chiemi asked. Azami wiped her eyes.

"I had to make myself better. I went to school and got a job."

"Daddy and Papa have jobs," Chiemi said. "What's your job?"

"I help people advertise their businesses." Chiemi looked confused. She looked between her father and Azami.

"I don't know what that word means," she said and everyone laughed. Azami looked to Shintarou and asked if she could take Chiemi to go play. Shintarou asked Chiemi if she'd like that and, upon seeing her nod, also gave his approval. Azami picked Chiemi up and carried her over to the play set. Shintarou took a deep breath and Kazunari sat them both down at the picnic table's bench.

"I feel like I'm sending her off to college," Shintarou said as he watched Chiemi run to the swings. Kazunari laughed.

"Oh believe me, that one is going to be a lot worse." Shintarou covered his face with his hands and took another deep breath. Kazunari rubbed Shintarou's back. "She's not leaving and she's not going to stop being your daughter. Our family just got a little bit bigger, that's all." Shintarou looked at Kazunari. "And when she's older, she is going to thank you a hundred times for this." Shintarou nodded and leaned his head on Kazunari's shoulder.

They sat in an easy silence watching Chiemi laughing and smiling while she played with Azami. Kazunari couldn't help noticing how much Azami was smiling. She didn't seem like a mother just yet, but it wouldn't be long before she fit herself perfectly into the mold. Kazunari watched the two go down a slide together and he smiled. This was how things should be. Chiemi was going to grow up with not one, not two, but three parents who loved her more than anything. She would grow up knowing what love and forgiveness and family meant. That was the single most important thing any parent could give their child.

-

After a while, Shintarou sat back and turned to Kazunari. Kazunari looked at him curiously. Shintarou took a deep breath and grabbed Kazunari's hands. "Do you really think this park symbolizes new beginnings?" Kazunari laughed.

"I was just making a joke, Shintarou." Shintarou shook his head and the smile fell from Kazunari's face.

"I'm not. We started here so this is the perfect place."

"For what?" Kazunari asked.

"I'm going to ask you to marry me," Shintarou said with an inhale and vulnerable eyes. Kazunari opened his mouth, but found that no possible words could ever actually cause the world to start turning again. All he saw in that second--no, the only thing that even existed in that second--was Shintarou. Shintarou, with his teeth worrying his bottom look and his eyes so wide that they looked impossible on his face. Kazunari tried to form words again but the only thing that came out was a squeaky breath. Shintarou's eyebrows pulled down and he rushed to explain himself.

"I don't think we have to be married to prove that this is real. I don't think that getting married will make you any more part of my life or make you any more Chiemi's father. I would just love to introduce you to people as my husband. I'm not traditional in any sense, but I want people to know that I'm yours, that you chose me, that we're proudly bounding over barriers together." Kazunari finally shut his mouth and smiled.

"No ring?" He asked with a widening smile. "No epic preamble?" He was joking but Shintarou still blushed.

"I truthfully deciding to do this twenty seconds ago," he said while scratching his neck.

"It was perfect," Kazunari said before he leaned forward to kiss Shintarou. "Shintarou, you know that I would shout from rooftops that I love you. I never expected myself to get married. Hell, I never expected to ever find someone who I'd even consider settling down with." Kazunari knew how his words sounded so he rushed on before Shintarou could react. "But I never doubted for one second that I'd ever be with anyone else once I had met you. This life is the one I never knew I wanted, never knew I needed. Of course, I'll marry you. I'll marry you over and over again, through this life and the next. I'll always love you, Shintarou. Always."

Shintarou smiled, wider than Kazunari had ever seen him smile before. Then he threw his arms around Kazunari and pulled them tightly together. He was making that adorable chuckling sound he made whenever he was smiling and happy. Kazunari chuckled himself before tightening his grip around Shintarou. Shintarou turned to kiss Kazunari and they both smiled the whole way through the kiss. When they finally pulled back, Kazunari took Shintarou's hand in his happily.

"So I get to be a Midorima now, huh?" Shintarou actually blushed. He really hadn't spent much time thinking about this, but that was okay. The spur of the moment decision wasn't very Shintarou-like at all and the idea made it more romantic to Kazunari.

"Midorima Kazunari," Shintarou said in a whisper. Kazunari smirked and playfully nudged Shintarou with his elbow.

"Has a ring to it." Shintarou blushed harder and glanced at Kazunari out of the corner of his eye.

"Could I call you that, you know, when we...?" Kazunari laughed and gave Shintarou his bedroom eyes.

"Whenever you'd like," he said before he pulled Shintarou into another kiss.

-

"Daddy, Daddy! Papa!" Chiemi screamed as she raced towards where Shintarou and Kazunari were sitting. Shintarou stood up and caught her as she nearly ran into him. He swung her up into his arms and spun her around. Kazunari couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Shintarou was so fucking happy and Kazunari could see it, could feel it.

Chiemi smiled at her father and then at her mother who was walking towards them. "Mrs. Azami said she wants to take us all out for dinner and she wanted me to ask if that would be okay?" Shintarou shook his head, kissed her on the forehead, and smiled.

"It's absolutely okay." Chiemi shouted her excitement and threw her arms around her father in a hug. Shintarou looked at Kazunari with that beaming smile and Kazunari thought that the smile he sent back to Shintarou didn't do his feelings proper justice. He wasn't just happy. He was finally complete.

They all were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter I've written on AO3 so forgive any formatting changes or errors.  
> I was literally crying while writing this fic because it was so beautiful.  
> 


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